44-year-old father of eight sits PLE in Iganga
Saidi Bateganya, a businessman in Iganga municipality, is among the 74 candidates sitting their exams at Noor Islamic Primary School. Bateganya said he was inspired to resume education at his age after he developed political ambitions.
Saidi Bateganya opens his mathematical set to get checked before he is allowed into the examination room. (Photo by Ivan Wakibi)
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A 44-year-old father of eight children from two wives is among the hundreds of candidates who have started writing their Primary Leaving Examinations in Iganga municipality, Iganga district, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Saidi Bateganya, a businessman in Iganga municipality, is among the 74 candidates sitting their exams at Noor Islamic Primary School.
Bateganya said he was inspired to resume education at his age after he developed political ambitions.
"I went back to school because I have plans to stand for political office. I am well prepared, and I am hopeful that I will excel," he said as he prepared to sit his first paper.
Saidi Bateganya seated in the examination room with fellow candidates as they wait to receive their examination papers. (Photo by Ivan Wakibi)
Bateganya revealed that he had earlier sat for the same exams at Butumbula Primary School in Mayuge district in 1999, where he got 29 aggregates and enrolled for secondary and dropped out in senior three.
Then, Bateganya said he used the name George Kikomeko. "I later changed to my current name, Saidi Bateganya. I was not comfortable with the previous name," he said.
However, Bateganya said that when he went to pick up the results to resume education after several years, the school denied him the results because he had changed his name. He pursued the matter up to the district education officer, who advised him to sit for PLE again.
Mutesi said he has been an inspiration at the school to fellow candidates and other pupils to take education seriously.
She wished him success in his exams. Fellow candidate Abdu Kyadidi said they feel inspired to sit with Bateganya, who is like a father to them. "He makes us take education seriously."
The centre chief invigilator, Geofrey Mutanda, said he last supervised such an old person sitting PLE in 1997.
Mutanda said that they will treat Bateganya like any other candidate. Bateganya is among the 920,833 candidates that the Uganda National Examinations Board registered nationally for the 2026 PLE (comprising 484,620 girls and 436,213 boys).
PLE exams started on Tuesday (November 3) and will end on Wednesday (November 4). The candidates started their examinations with Mathematics in the morning, which was followed by Social Studies and Religious Education in the afternoon. They will write their Integrated Science and English exams on Wednesday.