BUNYORO
Two head teachers have been arrested for allegedly registering secondary school students to sit for the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has confirmed.
According to UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo, the suspects were picked up from Salaama Education Centre Primary School in Kagadi District and Kasasa Primary School in Hoima District after it was discovered that they had illegally registered secondary school learners as PLE candidates.
“We have realized that some primary schools have taken on the practice of registering secondary school students to sit PLE. We have so far found this in Salaama Education Centre Primary School in Kagadi District, where five such students were found, and Kasasa Primary School in Hoima, where 15 such students were found,” Odongo said.
He added that the head teachers have been arrested to aid investigations, while the affected students are expected to record statements with the police.
Odongo described the act as a deliberate scheme by school administrators to manipulate examination results.
“The reason for this impersonation is to boost the number of first grades. All these are criminal intentions,” he noted.
The UNEB boss warned that any individuals found aiding or abetting examination malpractice risk heavy penalties.
“Invigilators and scouts have been cautioned against allowing malpractice, noting that they risk a fine of Shs20 million or imprisonment for five years, or both,” Odongo said.
The arrests come as UNEB intensifies efforts to curb examination malpractice ahead of the nationwide conduct of the 2025 PLE.
A total of 817,885 candidates from 16,140 examination centres have registered to sit for the PLE. The actual examinations begin on Monday, with Mathematics in the morning and Social Studies and Religious Education (SST & RE) in the afternoon, and will conclude on Wednesday, with Integrated Science in the morning and English in the afternoon.
