300 Amuru pupils miss mock exams
Oct 06, 2009
OVER 300 candidates for the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in Amuru district in northern Uganda missed mock exams.The anomaly was established last week, when the district mock results were released.
By Patience Aber
OVER 300 candidates for the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in Amuru district in northern Uganda missed mock exams.The anomaly was established last week, when the district mock results were released.
The whereabouts of the 300 pupils are unknown.
Amuru district school inspector, Richard Irweyo, said the missing pupils could have dropped out of school.
“We have been experiencing a problem of high school drop-out in the district. We are still trying to locate them,†he said in an interview on Monday.
The district leaders are concerned that this will have a negative impact on the PLE performance of the entire district.
“We are meeting the P7 candidates, their parents and the local area leaders of the places where they stay to try and resolve the matter,†Irweyo said.
The newly-created district has 3,222 pupils registered for PLE but according to the mock results, only 13 pupils passed in division one.
The sub-counties that registered the highest level of missing candidates are Amuru, Purongo, Kock Amar and Koch Goma.
Parents are partly to blame for the high school dropout in the district, said Gilbert Olanya, the former secretary for education.
“Some parents instruct their children to first work in the garden before going to school. Some girls get pregnant.â€
Amuru district recorded the highest number of failures in last year's PLE, with only one pupil passing in first grade.
After last year’s humiliation, the education authorities had set a performance target.
Each sub-county is expected to raise 15 candidates in grade one, and each school to contribute at least two pupils.
Amuru is one of the districts still recovering from the LRA insurgency, which greatly affected education.
Some schools in the region lack proper facilities like classrooms, textbooks and qualified teachers to give them standard education.
Other districts were also reported to have missed mocks including Bundibugyo because the Government had not disbursed money to the education department.
Education in the region was one of the most affected sectors during the 21-year-old war, with schools like Lapudu and Laminato primary schools still under recovery.
OVER 300 candidates for the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in Amuru district in northern Uganda missed mock exams.The anomaly was established last week, when the district mock results were released.
The whereabouts of the 300 pupils are unknown.
Amuru district school inspector, Richard Irweyo, said the missing pupils could have dropped out of school.
“We have been experiencing a problem of high school drop-out in the district. We are still trying to locate them,†he said in an interview on Monday.
The district leaders are concerned that this will have a negative impact on the PLE performance of the entire district.
“We are meeting the P7 candidates, their parents and the local area leaders of the places where they stay to try and resolve the matter,†Irweyo said.
The newly-created district has 3,222 pupils registered for PLE but according to the mock results, only 13 pupils passed in division one.
The sub-counties that registered the highest level of missing candidates are Amuru, Purongo, Kock Amar and Koch Goma.
Parents are partly to blame for the high school dropout in the district, said Gilbert Olanya, the former secretary for education.
“Some parents instruct their children to first work in the garden before going to school. Some girls get pregnant.â€
Amuru district recorded the highest number of failures in last year's PLE, with only one pupil passing in first grade.
After last year’s humiliation, the education authorities had set a performance target.
Each sub-county is expected to raise 15 candidates in grade one, and each school to contribute at least two pupils.
Amuru is one of the districts still recovering from the LRA insurgency, which greatly affected education.
Some schools in the region lack proper facilities like classrooms, textbooks and qualified teachers to give them standard education.
Other districts were also reported to have missed mocks including Bundibugyo because the Government had not disbursed money to the education department.
Education in the region was one of the most affected sectors during the 21-year-old war, with schools like Lapudu and Laminato primary schools still under recovery.