The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has extended by one month the late registration deadline for candidates slated to sit their national exams this year.
According to Uneb, while normal registration will go on until May 31, late registration will go on up to July 31 instead of the earlier set deadline of June 31. Late registration, however, attracts a surcharge.
The acting Uneb Executive Director, Mr. Mike Nakosya Masikye, yesterday said they have resolved to give parents more time to look for resources to have the learners registered.
“We established that the one-month late registration deadline we were giving parents was not enough because a number of learners have not yet registered. We are positive that within two months, all learners will be catered for,” Mr. Masikye said yesterday while addressing journalists at Uganda Media Centre.
The registration of candidates for the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) kicked off on April 1. The normal registration fee for PLE is Shs34,000, UCE is Shs164,000 and UACE is Shs186,000.
However, Mr. Masikye said candidates who will miss the normal registration timelines will be required to pay a surcharge for late registration amounting to Shs68,000 for PLE, Shs246,000 for UCE, and Shs279,000 for UACE in phase one, between June 1 and June 30.
The last phase of late registration will run from July 1 to July 31 and will attract a surcharge of 100 percent at all levels, with PLE pupils slated to pay Shs68,000, UCE Shs328,000, and UACE Shs372,000.
Meanwhile, schools that will hike registration fees set by Uneb will be subjected to a fine amounting to Shs40m, Section 33 of the Uneb Act, 2021, makes it an offense for any school that charges fees not prescribed by the board.
“Such an offense attracts a penalty of two thousand currency points (Shs40m) or a term of imprisonment not exceeding ten years or both. Additionally, the person convicted shall pay back the amount to the concerned students or their sponsors on top of the board withdrawing the examination center number of the school,” Mr. Masikye said.
A number of schools have been hiking the fees for registration in the guise of seeking to cater to the administrative costs they incur. The chairperson of the National Private Education Institutions Association (NPEIA), Mr. Hasadu Kirabira, earlier indicated that the Uneb fee does not put into consideration the costs schools incur in registration of learners such as paying data entrants, passport photos and stationery.
Uneb to reprint lost result slips
Uneb has also revealed that the board has worked on an amicable arrangement with Kampala Capital City Authority to re-print and issue fresh result slips to the affected learners.
This followed the story that was run by Daily Monitor on Monday, indicating that KCCA was under pressure from parents after it lost the result slips of 3,972 students who sat for the 2019 PLE.
The Deputy Executive Director of KCCA, Eng David Luyimbazi, said they were working hand in hand with Uneb about the issue.
Mr. Masikye yesterday said KCCA has paid the required money for the lost results slips and the board is set to print them out.
