UNEB appeals to religious leaders over exam malpractice

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has asked religious leaders to pray against examination malpractice as the 2018 Senior Four candidates prepare to begin exams on Monday.

According to the Uganda Certificate Exams (UCE) timetable published yesterday, the UCE exam period will open with Physicals and IPS Art Still Life/Nature on October 15, and close on November 16 with Technical Drawing (Mech), Technical Drawing (Building), IPS Mechanical Practice, IPS Building Practice and IPS Electrical Practice. The candidates will be briefed on Friday.

The religious institutions usually "dedicate to God" candidates before the start of examinations each year. The UNEB executive secretary, Dan Odongo, urged the "spiritual" leaders to preach against exam misconduct in the next three days.

"I appeal to our spiritual leaders to make it part of their sermons…Friday, Saturday and Sunday to preach against this vice as they pray for the candidates. Examination malpractice is a vice, a cancer that eats at the very core of the education system of the country," Odongo said during a press briefing at UNEB offices in Kampala on Thursday.

Examination malpractice, UNEB said, attacks the credibility of its certificates globally, and that the vice is actually a national security issue since cheating of exams has a serious impact on national development.

"While teachers and parents….who contribute money to facilitate this vice look at the short term gain of good results, they are not mindful of the great damage being done to those children. These will go through the education system without learning and the country will have such people as its teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, administrators…," Odongo observed.

Hot lines

UNEB issued telephone lines the public can call to report cases of exam malpractice; 0417-773100, 0414 286636, 0414 289397, 0417 691218 and 0772 625154.

The exams will be conducted under the theme; integrity and security in the management of examinations is my responsibility. A total of 336, 740 candidates registered for the examination from 3,658 centres for the 2018 UCE. The 2018 candidate number is higher than last year's by 10,528.

The female candidates in the 2018 UCE constitute 49.5%, and 45.2% are beneficiaries of the government universal education programme.

UNEB said 470 area supervisors, 3,658 centre supervisors, 13,279 chief invigilators, and invigilators will be in action during the examination period.