The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has assured the public that the marking of Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations is progressing smoothly, despite a small group of examiners leaving marking centres over disagreements on payment rates.
In a statement released by UNEB, the Board’s Executive Director, Dan Odongo, confirmed that while there were initial disruptions, marking for both the new curriculum and the transitional/old curriculum examinations is proceeding as planned.
Odongo explained that the Board contracted 7,000 examiners for this year’s exercise. Senior examiners began coordination with subject officers on 30th November, with the rest of the examiners reporting to 14 marking centres between 6th and 14th December. Actual marking officially started on 13th December.
However, Odongo noted that two groups of examiners, for Physics and Agriculture theory papers, declined to begin marking on the first day due to dissatisfaction with the adjusted payment rates. "About 100 out of over 400 examiners of Physics walked out of the marking centre, while 59 examiners quit marking Agriculture," Odongo stated.
He added that UNEB had made efforts to negotiate and explained that payment rates were adjusted based on the dynamics of the new curriculum and available resources. Despite the objections, Odongo clarified that the majority of examiners accepted the terms and continued with marking.
“Marking is therefore going on smoothly for all the subjects and papers under the new curriculum as originally planned,” Odongo affirmed.
He further expressed gratitude to the over 6,800 examiners who remained committed to the process, acknowledging their “spirit of patriotism and understanding in this national cause of marking the first cohort of candidates for the New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC).”
The UNEB Executive Director reassured the public that the temporary departure of some examiners would not significantly impact the exercise, as marking centres remain operational and on schedule.
