By Namubiru Rashidah/URN
An assessment by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) reveals that this year’s Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) had several malpractices, with the majority of cases involving collusion involving headteachers, examination scouts, and invigilators.
The UNEB report outlines several significant cases of cheating uncovered at top schools across various regions of the country. For example, at St. Mugagga in Nkozi, Mpigi District, a teacher was caught writing answers on the blackboard while invigilators were looking on.
At this, school, seven individuals, including the UNEB scout, the school headteacher, and five invigilators were arrested and are awaiting their day before court.
In another case at Kisoso Parents School, one of the leading schools in Masaka City, two teachers—who are not permitted in the examination room—were found assisting candidates. A subsequent investigation revealed that the teachers had stored exam-related materials on their phones, indicating they had prior knowledge of the exam content.
“The teachers were offering external assistance based on the contents of the telephone,” UNEB said in a statement.
UNEB also reported the arrest of an invigilator at Green Hill Primary School in Buwate, who was caught possessing an electronic device in the exam room, which was suspected to be used for aiding malpractice.
In Kuyunga District, UNEB with the help of the district internal security officer uncovered another cheating ring at Lion Judah Elementary School, where teachers were caught preparing answers for the mathematics paper as minutes after the learners had started the examination.
“Upon comparison, the retrieved answer sheets were found to correspond with UNEB’s mathematics questions, in the correct sequence,” the examination body reported. The school’s headteacher was arrested, and the UNEB official assigned to the school was taken to the police station to make statements.
Several individuals, including teachers, educationists, and former candidates interviewed for this story have pointed out that collusion is the most prevalent form of malpractice, one that UNEB has failed to address for years.
Derrick Murungi, a former teacher turned businessman, noted that obtaining prior knowledge of the exam paper is a costly undertaking for schools, but it becomes much cheaper if “it is sorted” at the school on the examination day itself.
“Schools bribe the invigilators, to either look away or even get involved in providing answers to the candidates. In rural areas, teachers even write answers on the chalkboard,” he said.
Murungi’s statement regarding teachers writing answers on the chalkboard during exams was spot on, as teachers from Nkozi were among those arrested for doing exactly that.
The former teacher further noted that, at some schools, to avoid scrutiny from security and UNEB officials, they sometimes “close the school gates and conduct their acts without disturbance.”
Uganda Radio Network has reviewed past records and found that, over the years, there have been several isolated cases where headteachers and invigilators were arrested for their alleged involvement in examination malpractice during national exams.
Rev. Canon Prof. Grace Lubale, a senior lecturer of education at Kyambogo University, pointed out that the collusion Involving teachers, scouts, and invigilators is a public secret. However, he added that UNEB is yet to find an effective solution to it.
Rev. Canon Prof. Lubale added from what he has learned in most cases, UNEB officials involved in such malpractice do not receive large sums of money as one might expect, but rather small amounts and a better lunch during the exam period.
“Malpractice has reached the core of our education system, and addressing it will require significant effort and multiple approaches,” he stated before suggesting that a starting point would be to de-register and ban teachers implicated in such offences from the profession.
Section 26 of the new UNEB Act of 2021 provides that “anyone who, while serving as a supervisor, invigilator, scout, monitor, or special needs education support personnel, negligently allows unauthorized assistance to be given to a candidate commits an offence.”
If convicted, they can be liable to a fine of up to 20 million Shillings a prison sentence of up to five years, or both. Furthermore, the Act stipulates that registered teachers who are found encouraging malpractice may not only face legal consequences but also disciplinary action in accordance with the relevant laws governing the teaching profession.
This disciplinary action could include disqualification from the teaching profession.
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