Actual writing of the 2020 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) kicks off today beginning with Mathematics and Social Studies.
This is after the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) conducted briefing of candidates on Friday last week.
Mr Dan Odongo, the UNEB Executive Secretary, said that the field conduct of the examination will be handled by 138 District Monitors, 10,911 Scouts, 9,862 Supervisors and 30,027 Invigilators.
“An unspecified number of security officers are being deployed across the country and will carry out both overt and covert operations to ensure the security of the examination, the field officers and the candidates,” he said.
Mr Odongo revealed that 749,811 candidates are expected to sit for this year’s PLE from 14,300 examination centres.
This is an increase of 54,007 (7.8 %) from 2019.
The Secretary said scouts and invigilators are expected to be vigilant and look out for the sensitive needs of the Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates and support them appropriately.
He also said heads of centres must ensure that the health and safety Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as provided by the Ministry of Health are fully observed.
Mr Odongo strongly warned all persons contemplating involvement in any form of examination malpractice that they will be dealt with harshly.
“UNEB is working with the relevant security agencies to closely monitor their actions and the public is cautioned against dealing with such masqueraders,” he said.
In Hoima Oil City, 3,920 candidates registered for their final PLE, according to the Hoima City Principal Education Officer, Johnson Kusiima Baingana.
Mr Baingana disclosed that two pregnant girls of Hoima Public School were also allowed to sit for their exam.
However, there was a delay in the distribution of exams to all schools in the city which Mr Baingana attributed to the conditions that UNEB instituted.
He said according to the guidelines, examination papers were to be picked from Hoima Police Station at 8am yet exams were scheduled to start at 9am.
This meant that some centres received received the exams when it had already clocked 9 o’clock the official time when exams were scheduled to begin.
The heavy early morning downpour in Hoima city also disturbed candidates from reaching on time. Some of the candidates were seen walking and cycling in the rain to go and write their exams.
