Following the briefing of candidates last Friday, the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) have started today across the country.
According to the national examinations body, Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), a total of 99,672 students were registered to sit for these national examinations.
UACE is the highest qualification at the high school level in Uganda after which students join University and other institutions of higher learning for Diplomas and Degrees.
Out the total number of students expected to sit exams, 53,359 are male and 41,313 are females, but statistics indicate that this year’s number of candidates has gone down compared to the 102,007 candidates who sat for UACE exams in 2017.
Students doing science combinations will start with Mathematics and those offering Arts will start with History.
Exams commenced at 9am in the 2,217 centres across the country.
But, UNEB General Secretary, Daniel Odong has had no kind words for schools which will be found indulging in any examinations malpractices warning that legal action will be taken. He as well cautioned them against people purporting to have examinations prior to their sitting.
“We still warn schools against the involvement in malpractice in the examination and to guard against people who sell what they purport to be examination questions,” Dan Odong said in a statement.
He also noted that distribution of examination materials started on Saturday under tight security and that over 800 scouts and security personnel have been deployed to man the process.
Last year, several examination papers leaked and were circulated on different social media platforms before their sitting, a practice condemned by the examinations body.
It remains to be be seen whether the new measures instituted by UNEB to prevent examination malpractices will be effective.