The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) Examinations have kicked off on Monday morning countrywide and Parrots UG academic writers are at the scene, this time covering Examination event at Valley College Bushenyi district in the south western Uganda.
Senior Six students decently donned in the college White Yamato shirts for male learners and blouses for female learners and Gray pair of trousers and skirts, with COVID-19 protective facemasks on lined up at the Examination room for checking ready to sit for their morning papers.
The college’s Director of Studies Boniface Kigundu says the teachers have covered the syllabus and the students are set for the exams.
According to Kigundu, a total of 38 students including 15 girls and 23 boys are sitting for their UACE exams at Valley College.
Today UACE exams commenced with learners doing European History (History Paper 3), Mathematics Paper 0ne in the morning and History of economic and social history of East Africa in the afternoon and Mathematica paper two in the afternoon.
At Valley College, students who spoke to our reporters showed readiness and confidence to make it in this last batch of the national examinations.
“We are determined and ready for exams,” says Joan Atuhaire a student of HEL/ ICT.
Like Atuhaire, Victor Owoyesigyire doing MEG/ICT said before breaking Exams virginity with Mathematics paper one that he is very confident and ready to make it to the heights in this year’s UACE exams.
Other learners like Akatukunda Elis and Owamani Dorcus expressed that staff at Valley college had done their part best and so it is their turn (learners) to showcase their capabilities.
Nationwide, a total of 98,393 learners are scheduled to sit for their examinations from 2,339 examination centres across the country, according to UNEB statistics.
In a press statement from the Executive Secretary of Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb), Dan Odongo, 41.8 per cent (41,129) of the number of students are female while 58.2 per cent (57,264) are male.
Odongo noted a difference in a percentage trend of females and male learners sitting at this year’s UACE level as compared to the numbers at the primary level where female candidates surpassed their male counterparts.
According to Odongo, majority of learners slated to sit for UACE examinations are from private schools (Non-Upolet) with a total of 80,746 compared to those in Universal Secondary Education (Upolet) with a total of 17,647.
He says 200 candidates have special needs education (SNE) necessities and 55 require special support personnel such as transcribers and sign language interpreters.
“The board has made arrangements for all these SNE learners to access the necessary support. Like in the previous examinations, candidates with advanced pregnancies who may manifest with challenges, as well as breastfeeding mothers will be accorded an extra 45 minutes,” Mr Odongo said.
UACE exams which kicked off today is slated to end on May 3.
Stakeholders have been wsrned against examination malpractice, a practice contrary to the new Uneb Act 2021 that calls for stringent punishment to anyone found guilty of breaching the laws within this Act.
According to the Uneb Act, sanctions for the offences under examinations malpractice have been increased from six months to five years imprisonment; or a fine of Shs5,000,000, or both.
