The Parliamentary Committee on Education and Sports has hailed the Management of the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), for putting in place stringent measures that have helped to reduce the cases of examination malpractice. This was during the presentation of the Budget Framework Paper for the FY 2024/25 – 2027/28, to the Committee at Parliament on Tuesday January 10th, 2024. The UNEB team was led by the Executive Director, Mr. Dan N. Odongo, who was accompanied some members of Senior Management Team.
The Committee informed the UNEB Team that they were pleased with the work of the Board, which they said has helped to uphold the standards of Education in the country. Other aspects that were specifically applauded by the committee are the policies on gender mainstreaming as well as prioritizing the assessment of Special Needs Education (SNE) candidates. The effective public awareness/ communication strategy of the Board was also highly commended, with the honorable members noting that the awareness creation has contributed to the curbing of examination malpractice.
At the same sitting, the Committee asked the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to mobilize resources for UNEB’s underfunded priorities, so as to enable the Board deliver on its mandate. This was after the UNEB ED Mr. Odongo informed the committee that the Board has a number of underfunded priorities the members were alarmed to learn that UNEB’s examiners are the least paid in the region. Mr. Dan Odongo, the UNEB Executive Director, reported that because of the poor remuneration, there is a high turnover of the good and experienced examiners. This, he said, makes it necessary for UNEB to constantly train new examiners which is also costly.
Mr. Odongo also informed the Committee that while the Board’s policy of Equitable assessment is commendable, it comes at a high cost. He specifically informed the committee that while the sensitization about SNE candidates is a positive thing, it has resulted into an increase in the SNE candidature, which requires the use of a large number of support personnel, who have to be facilitated.
Finally, the ED thanked the chairperson and the entire committee for their commitment and guidance in ensuring that the Board obtains funding for its activities. He noted that this year, the Board is transitioning from rote assessment to competency based assessment in line with the Board’s goal of contributing to increased quality and relevancy of assessment and certification for national transformation. Mr. Odongo therefore prayed that the Board be supported with the required resources to effectively handle the transition process.
