Image of a pregnant school girl/Courtesy photo
The Uganda National Examinations Board-UNEB reports that six candidates have so far given birth during the ongoing Uganda Certificate of Education -UCE examinations. The six, according to UNEB, are from northern and eastern districts of the country.
These are among the hundreds of learners who conceived during the long holiday that started with the closure of schools which was effected in March 2020, as one of the measures taken by the government to control the spread of coronavirus disease.
But unlike before when pregnant learners were shunned by schools, the education ministry announced that all learners should be allowed to return to school, as the institutions reopened for candidates in September. The examinations body also accorded an extra 45 minutes for all expectant and breastfeeding candidates to complete the examination papers, putting them in the category of circumstantial impairments.
UNEB spokesperson Jennifer Kalule says that only four of the five mothers that had live births were able to continue with their papers. She adds that although one of that the mothers lost her baby after birth, she has been able to continue with the Examinations.
Kalule says that although Uneb has been soft to pregnant candidates, and hailing them for exhibiting this strong and brave spirit, they intend to put up tougher policies on pregnancies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Examinations body also reports that a male Candidate from west Nile attempted to commit suicide moments after the Mathematics paper which was done on March 3. Kalule says that the teenager who was allegedly frustrated by the way he responded to questions in the mathematics exam, was rescued and is currently admitted to the hospital.
In the same development, the examination body says they have not recorded major malpractice reports this year, save for a few cases related to the smuggling of unauthorized materials into examination rooms and another incident, in which two people were found vending fake examination papers at a school around Kampala.
A total of 333,889 candidates from 3,935 centres registered for the 2020 UCE Examinations that started on March 1, 2021. The candidates would have sat their examination last year around October. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the school calendar.
-URN
