At least 1,292 candidates for last year’s Uganda Certificate of Education –UCE exams will not celebrate with their colleagues after the examination body has withheld their results on suspicion of cheating. 
The Uganda National Examination Board –UNEB Executive Secretary, Dan Odongo, announced that the results were withheld after detecting cheating through sharing of answer scripts by brighter students, smuggling in of answer scrips written from outside and inside examination room assistance.
Nevertheless, Odongo said all students whose results have been withheld will be accorded a fair hearing like it has been the case since UNEB inception about 41 years ago. Even though 1,292 UCE results have been withheld, Odongo said last year’s exams registered a drop in examination malpractice compare to 1,825 cases recorded in 2019.
Another vital thing to note about UCE exams, according to Odongo, is the continuous decline in science performance. UNEB said nearly a half of the more than 320000 candidates failed to achieve the minimum pass 8 level.
“Worth noting with concern is the overall pass levels for Science subjects where nearly half of the candidates have not achieved the minimum Pass 8 level. Chemistry remains the worst done subject,” UNEB stated.
The failure in science subjects has been attributed to schools teaching the practical aspect in the last phase of a 4 years’ course. Odongo said a number of candidates scrammed or forged answers for practical papers.
UCE exams were released by Ms Janet Kataha who is the minister of education and wife to President Yoweri Museveni. UNEB has warned schools against holding celebratory parties for students who have exceled.