UACE : Teachers, UNEB Staff Grateful for Good Weather

Uganda National Examinations Board-UNEB officials and teachers are grateful that the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Examinations have kicked off without any interruptions caused by the weather. Ninety-eight thousand and three hundred and ninety four-98,394 candidates in the upper secondary will be writing their UACE examinations.    

Unlike Primary Leaving Examinations-PLE that kicked off amidst a heavy downpour, there was no weather disruptions. UNEB spokesperson, Jennifer Kalule Musamba, says they expect all examinations to start on time.

"The start of exams at PLE was delayed by heavy rains but today we see the weather in Kampala is favourable. We expect all examinations to start on time, we do not foresee any delays," she said. The examination cycle is expected to kick off at 9:00 am with History and Mathematics.

URN visited a number of examination storage centers in Kampala and by 7:40 am, some school heads could be seen arriving to pick examinations. Despite the good weather, some teachers that URN spoke to said they were worried about potential delays that might result from traffic jam. 

Afuwa Nabbanja, the Deputy Headteacher Samson Memorial High School in Kampala, said the early morning gridlock has been unusual. "We were on time and expected good weather but the traffic jam is a lot. Usually, the situation is not like this," Nabbanja said.     The deputy headteacher in charge of academics at Wampewo Ntaje, Edward Ssekiziyivu, said all is well. "The weather is behaving, the supervisors are already here and our leaners am sure are ready for their first exam anytime from now, “said Ssekiziyivu.

Rogers Kimbugwe, the headteacher, Comprehensive College Kitetikka, says the school has nothing to add or panic about. "For we know that what we did is just enough to make our students pass. So now we are handing them over to God to be able to remember what they were taught," Kimbugwe said.

Abraham Okello, a candidate at Kololo Secondary School told URN that he was excited to sit for exams. “I have been waiting for these exams for more than a year but COVID disorganized us. Am happy that I can start my exams now. It is also not raining and am happy about that, I was worried it would rain," he said.

Fortune Muwanguzi, a senior six candidate at Wampewo Ntaje Secondary School said the school has done its part and it is their turn to show that they have been studying.

"I am a PCM candidate and ready to write my exam but my concern is putting on a mask throughout the examination. My other concern is about success card even my parents have not given me one, am so disappointed about it but I will not disappoint them," Muwanguzi said.

According to the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), the candidates will sit for the examinations from 2,339 Examination Centres countrywide. 58.1% of the candidates are boys while 41.8% are girls.