UNEB Decries Underfunding

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has said that the problem of underfunding has affected their work citing it as reason for the delay of results and examinations.

 

While presenting their budget estimates for the financial year 2013/14 to the parliamentary committee of education and sports, the board’s Deputy Secretary Fredrick Kiyemba said that government should increase funds allocated to them to run their activities effectively.

 

Kiyemba told them that government allocates them inadequate funds and directs them to put examination fees at a lower fee than the actual cost.

 

He added that while conducting exams for O’Level costs them 89,650 shillings per student, they are ordered to charge each student only 80,000. He said that conducting exams for A’Level costs 92,790 shillings per student, students only pay 80,500.

 

Kiyemba also that the board has been getting 1.2 billion shillings as wage bill since 2004 yet their actual expenditure on wages is 3.5 billion adding that the non wage costs require 2.4 billion shillings a year but was fixed at only 600 million shillings since 2004.

 

He also told MPs that government gives them 5.9 billion shillings for UPE and 3.8 billion for USE leaving 30,000 UPE students unfunded and 8,121 USE students unfunded.

 

The chairperson of the committee Florence Namabidde asked UNEB officials where they get the money to fund the budget deficit and said they don’t have it adding that the board has many areas which are wanting.

 

The Uganda National Examinations Board is the body in charge of setting and marking Primary Leaving Examinations, Uganda Certificate of Education Exams and Uganda Advanced Certificate Exams.