Students attend an airing lesson in Kampala, Uganda, on Aug. 16, 2021. Uganda on Monday resumed airing lessons on the radio for upper primary and secondary school levels as schools in the country remain closed. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)
KAMPALA –
For the first time in many years, the country may not have candidates writing the national examinations administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) this year, sources have revealed.
Sources in Government familiar with the state’s position on schools reopening have revealed that both primary and secondary schools will reopen in January 2022.
This is so because learners have not studied and are, therefore, not ready to write their examinations.
Subsequently, the would-be 2021 examinations will be rescheduled and that the education ministry will redesign mechanisms under which semi-candidates will be prepared for exams.
The semi-candidate classes include Primary Six, Senior Three and Five.
“The semi-candidates hardly completed their syllabus and also, they have not touched the candidate classwork. That means they are not ready. I cannot say that candidates will sit for exams in 2022, that will be determined by the ministry later,” a source said.
A separate source who is also familiar with developments said schools including primary and secondary will reopen on Monday, January 10, 2020.
The source also said that universities and tertiary institutions will reopen on Saturday, November 20, 2021.
The National Covid-19 Task Force agreed on the recommendation on Tuesday during a meeting held at the urging of the President to review their initial proposal.
The government first closed schools during a lockdown in March 2020, days before Uganda registered its index Covid-19 case, and again during a second lockdown on June 18, this year, imposed to break a devastating pandemic second wave.
Sources also confirmed that the government has also completed the first phase of condensing the curriculum for both primary and secondary education, which will be used by teachers when schools reopen in January 2022.
Reports indicate that learners will be assessed and promoted automatically to the next class when schools reopen and that they will be given remedial lessons in two weeks to cover what they missed in their previous classes.
Sources in the Ministry of Education quoted by Daily Monitor say that the curriculum for Senior One and Two have been blended to ensure that this is all taught in Senior Two.
This means that Senior One students will now report to Senior Two.
The National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) was assigned by the Ministry of Education to harmonize all topics in lower and upper primary, O, and A ‘Level to come up with a condensed curriculum for the four levels.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Denis Mugimba said NCDC was tasked to kick-start the review of the curriculum last year.
Uganda was named among the only 5 countries in the world to keep schools shut throughout the pandemic by a UNICEF report.