15-year-old gives birth during PLE
A Primary Seven candidate went into labour on Monday as she was sitting for her English paper in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
By Esther Mukyala
A Primary Seven candidate went into labour on Monday as she was sitting for her English paper in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
Harriet Babirye, a 15-year-old pupil of Mpummudde Estate Primary School in Jinja Municipality, reported a stomach upset in the examination hall.
She informed an invigilator and the school administration arranged transport to rush her to Mpummudde Health Centre.
“In about 25 minutes she had given birth to a baby girl and she was rushed back to complete her paper,†the Jinja assistant inspector of schools, Stephen Katankula, said.
The baby, he added, was left in the care of the medical officers. She later picked it up and went back to her parents’ home in Mafubira near Mpummudde.
Babirye, who had dropped out of school at the beginning of third term due to the pregnancy, returned to sit for the exams.
Katankula urged parents whose daughters get pregnant while they are still studying to take them back to school after they have given birth.
A total of 1,698 pupils sat for this year’s PLE in Jinja Municipality, dropping slightly from 1,705 candidates in 2006.
Katankula said the PLE went on smoothly, without any cases of exam malpractices. Two schools on Kisima islands, Kisima 1 and Kisima 2, did not have any candidates sitting for PLE this year.
“The residents on the island depend on fishing as a source of income. Most parents send their children to go fishing, so they abandon school,†Katankula explained.
A Primary Seven candidate went into labour on Monday as she was sitting for her English paper in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
Harriet Babirye, a 15-year-old pupil of Mpummudde Estate Primary School in Jinja Municipality, reported a stomach upset in the examination hall.
She informed an invigilator and the school administration arranged transport to rush her to Mpummudde Health Centre.
“In about 25 minutes she had given birth to a baby girl and she was rushed back to complete her paper,†the Jinja assistant inspector of schools, Stephen Katankula, said.
The baby, he added, was left in the care of the medical officers. She later picked it up and went back to her parents’ home in Mafubira near Mpummudde.
Babirye, who had dropped out of school at the beginning of third term due to the pregnancy, returned to sit for the exams.
Katankula urged parents whose daughters get pregnant while they are still studying to take them back to school after they have given birth.
A total of 1,698 pupils sat for this year’s PLE in Jinja Municipality, dropping slightly from 1,705 candidates in 2006.
Katankula said the PLE went on smoothly, without any cases of exam malpractices. Two schools on Kisima islands, Kisima 1 and Kisima 2, did not have any candidates sitting for PLE this year.
“The residents on the island depend on fishing as a source of income. Most parents send their children to go fishing, so they abandon school,†Katankula explained.