Senior four candidates start exams

Anxiety looms large across the country as the first cohort of Senior Four candidates under the new Lower Secondary Curriculum starts exams today. The curriculum came into effect in 2021.
According to the Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb), a total of 379,620 students were registered to sit for Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations that will end on November 15.
Under the new curriculum, emphasis is put on competence-based learning instead of rote learning and the assessment of learners’ performance is a shared responsibility of both Uneb that awards marks out of 80 percent at the respective schools that award the 20 percent.
Unlike previous S.4 candidates, this year’s cohort has studied for nearly five years having been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, one month into their first term in Senior One.
Mr Yusuf L Gayinamungu , the head teacher of Lumuza High School ,Mpigi District, said they have done all it takes to prepare their candidates .
He revealed that all the marks of project work and activities of integration for candidates as required under the new Lower Secondary Curriculum were sent to Uneb using the school portal.
“We have done our part as a school and the onus is on the candidates to prove that they grasped what the teachers taught them to pass the exams,” he said.
The school has 103 UCE candidates; 68 of these are girls.
Hajj Ishaka Mbalirwa, the head teacher of Madinah Islamic SS,Nsangi, said everything is set for the candidates to sit their final exams despite the challenges both teachers and students encountered during the implementation of the new curriculum.
“It is true there have been some challenges, but we managed to identify them and worked on them, and at this point, we believe our candidates are adequately prepared to face the final exams, and as usual,we expect the best out of them,” he said.
Mr Mbalirwa said they have registered 399 UCE candidates – the highest number since the school's inception in 2011. 
“We had impressive results last year. We thought we should slightly increase the number,” he said.
Mr Anthony Nsereko, the director of studies at Hope Integrated School Kinoni in Lwengo District, said they have 75 Senior Four candidates, compared to the 47 they registered last year.
Mr Ali Kaggwa , the head teacher of St Jude SS,Masaka , said the new competence–based curriculum does not put much pressure on learners since it’s not all about passing exams.
“We are testing the competence of candidates, which we have ably done and our candidates are well prepared and set for the exams,” he said.
According to Mr Jerome Amizaru, the head teacher of Dzaipi Secondary school in Adjumani District, 45 students are resitting for the Uganda Certificate of Education exams under the old curriculum. Meanwhile, 117 are sitting for exams under the new curriculum. 
“We are not well equipped but we are still using the old books though the contents have been reviewed. We now study Geography of Uganda and the new curriculum builds a holistic person,” he said.
In Moyo District, Mr David Ocen, the chairperson Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu) Moyo branch, told Monitor that the old curriculum is still being implemented in some of the schools but more have equally embraced the new curriculum. 
“Most of the students have adopted the new curriculum with effective capacity building to the teachers. The new curriculum is hands-on. Its effectiveness would be seen this year,” he said. 
Mr Moses Emong, the chairperson Unatu for Kaberamaido District, said the level of preparation for the set of the new curriculum examination differs from one school to the other.
He said some private schools injected money to acquire the needed literature for learners while some that are financially handicapped have not prepared well, and that they waited for government material, which was delivered at delayed dates yet teachers had to complete the syllabus in time.
Mr Emong explained further that for the government-aided schools it has been even much harder for the head teachers to charge parents money because the government has always told the public that it caters for every aspect needed for the pupils and students to be at school.
Mr Alfred Elalu Edakasi, the Kaberamaido County MP, said the district has a shortage of 450 teachers.
“That means in case of manpower needed during the forthcoming examination, the few available teachers will have to shoulder the donkey load of activities,” he said.
Mr Julius Opaso, the head teacher of Teso College, Aloet, said there is nothing so unique about the set of examinations under the new curriculum. “Our students are up to the game, and I further appeal to students to remain steadfast and calm,” Mr Opaso, said.
Mr Leonard Ssali,the head teacher of St Noa Mawaggali SSS-Mbiko in Njeru Municipality in Buikwe District, said the students are ready to write their examinations and the teachers have ensured the syllabus was covered in time.
Mr Eliot John Paul Achan, the director of Allied Teachers SSS –Nyenga, said about 80 students have registered to sit for the exams under the new curriculum.
“The teachers have tried their best to ensure the students receive the knowledge because we have the practical equipment and laboratories. However I don’t know how they are going to perform”, Mr Achan said.
 Ms Gertrude Atukunda, the head teacher of Rushanje Girls Secondary School, said there is anxiety.
“But we have done our best, the project marks and the continuous assessment have already been submitted to Uneb,” he said.
Mr Aggrey Mayende, a head teacher at Busia Secondary School, said the roll-out of the programme was affected by the outbreak of Covid-19, which disrupted the implementation program.
“The new curriculum is the best, but it is demanding. Everybody has been learning, the teachers, the headmasters, the officials at the ministry and the learners,” Mr Mayende said, adding that some scholastic materials, especially books, were delivered late.
In Moyo District, Mr Martin Ulego, a teacher at Bishop Asili Secondary School, said: “In rural schools the uptake remains low because we lacked materials”.
The head teacher for Bubare Secondary School in Rubanda District, Mr Amos Ahimbisibwe, said they are not sure whether the new curriculum will be immediately rolled out in A -Level or it will be first consolidated in lower secondary school level.
Meanwhile, some stakeholders in the education sector in Kigezi Sub-region have expressed optimism.
“We do not have any school that failed to implement the new curriculum, and we feel that the Senior Four candidates are well prepared to sit and pass their final exams under the new curriculum,” the Kabale District education officer, Mr Moses Bwengye, said.
NUMBER OF CANDIDATES
Last Friday, the Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb) Executive Director, Mr Daniel Odongo, said 379,620 Senior Four candidates across the country would sit for their Uganda Certificate of Education Examination (UCE) starting today. He indicated that a total of 379,620 candidates registered for examinations under both the new lower secondary curriculum and transitional examinations under the old curriculum. Of these, more than 10,143 candidates will undertake the transitional examination under the old curriculum, while 369,477 are participating as pioneers of the new curriculum. The government’s Universal Secondary Education (USE) Programme supports 138,502 candidates, up from 114,200 in 2023
 Compiled by Fred Wambede,Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa , Brian Adams Kesiime & Malik F jjINGO, Cosline Nakahiira, Hillary Twinamatsiko & Felix Ainebyoona, Simon Peter Emwamu, Denis Edema, Abubaker Kirunda, Marko Taibot and Scovin Iceta.