Nekemiya Memorial Seed School faces transport uncertainty as UCE exams start

Authorities of the government-aided school, Nekemiya Memorial Seed School on Buvuma Island, Bufumbira Sub-county in Kalangala District, have expressed their inability to transport papers for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations due to fuel shortages, leaving candidates in limbo.

The school management says it requires at least 580 litres of petrol, valued at about Shs4.6m, to transport examination papers from the police headquarters in Kalangala Town Council, where the examination papers are collected, which is about 10 kilometres away from the school throughout the 12-day examination period.

Headmistress Rose Nalugemwa told this publication on Sunday ahead of Monday morning paper that the school, with 15 registered canddiates has just 100 litres of fuel, leaving them with a shortfall of 480 litres.

She attributed the challenge to inadequate government funding and parents' reluctance to contribute, saying some parents believe government funding should cover all school expenses, while others have been affected by disruptions to their sources of income on Lake Victoria.

“Parents tell us that they were told not to pay any money to the school, and those who are willing to contribute have had their sources of income cut off by the situation on the lake,” she said.

The school is preparing to host its first-ever UCE examination session at its own premises, having previously relied on examination centres at Bishop Dunstan Memorial Secondary School and Serwanga Lwanga Memorial Secondary School, both on Buggala Island

Ms Nalugemwa said the school opted to establish an examination centre after observing parents' willingness to invest in their children's education.

“I saw a lot being invested by parents to facilitate their children staying on Buggala Island. I went to UNEB and requested a centre, with the hope that parents would be able to facilitate the school during the period. But now parents are shying away at a time when they need to see that their children sit their final examinations,” she said.

The decision to establish an examination centre at the school has, however, introduced additional logistical demands, particularly the transportation of examination papers from Buggala Island to Buuvu Island.

Under the current arrangement, Ms Nalugemwa says she must travel from Buuvu to Buggala to collect the first examination paper and return to the school before making another journey to collect the afternoon paper.

She estimates that the school needs to make three trips a day to facilitate the examination process across the different subjects, placing additional pressure on its limited resources.

“ If parents were cooperative, things would be smooth because we receive a small grant from the government, which cannot facilitate the whole process,” she said.

UNEB storage arrangement

The school’s challenge comes amid concerns over the arrangements for storing and distributing examination papers to schools located on islands, where transportation costs can be high and access to examination centres may depend on boats.

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) normally makes arrangements for examination papers to be stored at designated locations to ease access by schools. A similar arrangement was made for Bukasa Senior Secondary School on Bukasa Island, according to information obtained by this publication.

However, we have learnt that UNEB did not grant Nekemiya Memorial Seed Secondary School a similar arrangement, leaving its headmistress to collect the papers from Buggala Island and transport them to Buuvu.

District supervisor confirms challenge

Kalangala District examination supervisor Ms Cathy Kabashoke confirmed that schools are responsible for meeting the costs of transporting national examination papers and acknowledged that Nekemiya Memorial Seed Secondary School was facing difficulties.

“First of all, the grant the government gives the school cannot sustain the children at school, let alone provide enough money to purchase fuel for transporting the examination papers,” she said.

Ms Kabashoke said efforts to mobilise support for the school had not yielded the expected response, adding that the people contacted had not responded positively.

The school's predicament highlights the additional costs faced by schools in island communities, where transporting examination materials requires water transport and repeated journeys between islands.

Mr Twahika Kajubi Kironde, the Assistant Resident District Commissioner for Kalangala, said they were making arrangements to mobilise fuel to support the school.

“It’s a bigger challenge, and we are mobilising from leaders and others to have fuel as we contact relevant authorities to see how we solve this issue,” he said

The UCE starts this Monday countrywide with over 50,000 candidates registered. It will run from Monday, October 12 to November 3.