Your Letter - Please release Katusabe’s results

EDITOR: It is with great shock and apprehension that I am writing this letter to your goodselves.Allow me to give you a brief history of the above named student. Catherine Katusabe is a total orphan with no father and no mother; no brother and no sister! She was ready to drop out of school and may be take to the street, when the last of her parents: that is her mother, died. Her remaining relatives are all below the poverty line and were in no way able to sustain her in school (and by the way they are not many in number.I am what can be termed ‘a Good Samaritan’ who was touched by that girl’s pathetic situation, but at the same time encouraged by her ‘beautiful’ reports. I decided to sacrifice and push her on in school inspite of the fact that I am not a woman of great means but I have a great heart! I am a simple salary earner with heavy-weight responsibilities. The school where Catherine has been, has been very understanding and co-operative in that it has always allowed me to pay the school dues in installments as if it were a loan. In that way I have managed to see her through senior four.Come to the issue of cheating during exams: students who engage in such practices principally must have liquid cash available to pay for these papers. I want to state without a shade of doubt that at that time, poor Catherine did not have such money on her for such a transaction. I understand further that the culprits at this centre were apprehended during exam time and taken to Police, and I believe their statements are still there; but Catherine’s name was not mentioned anywhere therein (I stand to be corrected if I am wrong in this instance).Therefore if Catherine is being penalised and punished probably because of the good marks she could have scored in the paper(s), please be informed that her academic records (that is termly reports) show that she has been a consistent, first level student all through, coming many times at the top of her classes.Also please be informed that Catherine has been very conscious of her state of affairs and as such, has always devoted her whole being to her studies. Her Headmaster and teachers can doubtless testify to this.So in view of the foregoing, I would like to appeal to your goodselves to review this ‘special students’ case. Kindly utilise all possible avenues to ascertain, without taking a general view, that the girl was actually involved in the said malpractice, before dumping her as an “examination cheat”. Otherwise you could be blocking the future and the destiny of a helpless girl whom the rest of humanity would be eager to help.Thanking you and looking forward to your sympathetic and parental approach to this issue, I remain.Gladys Mary Kakara,Kampala.