UNEB Executive Director, Dan Odongo
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has assured the public that although some examiners left the marking centers after disagreement on payment, the marking at all Examination Marking Centres is “continuing smoothly as planned.”
The Board contracted seven thousand examiners to mark the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) scripts for both the new curriculum and the transitional/old curriculum examinations this year. Senior Examiners reported on November 30, 2024, for coordination with subject officers. The rest of the examiners reported on December 6, 2024, to December 14, 2024, marking centers for further coordination and preparations for effective marking.
Actual marking was slated to start on December 13, 2024.
However, on that day, two groups of examiners for physics and agriculture theory papers declined to start the exercise because they were not satisfied with the payment rate. This was despite efforts to negotiate with them and the explanation that management had already considered the dynamics of the new curriculum and made some adjustments in accordance with the available resources.
While some examiners objected to the adjusted rates, UNEB explains that the majority accepted them, and marking started effectively at all the centers.
“About 100 out of over 400 Examiners of Physics walked out of the Marking Centre, while 59 quit marking Agriculture. Their departure, however, will not have a major impact on the exercise. Marking is therefore going on smoothly for all the subjects and papers under the new curriculum as originally planned,” UNEB said in a statement on Monday. “The Board is grateful to the over 6,800 Examiners who have exhibited the spirit of patriotism and understanding in this national cause of marking the first cohort of candidates for the New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC).”
