All 100 Senior Four candidates at Kemishego Secondary School in Ntungamo District have started their UCE examinations after the school and well-wishers replaced uniforms and scholastic materials destroyed in a September 25 dormitory fire.
One hundred Senior Four candidates at Kemishego Secondary School in Nyamunuka Town Council, Ntungamo District, have begun their Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations despite losing personal belongings in a dormitory fire weeks before the national examinations.
The fire, which gutted the boys’ dormitory on September 25, destroyed uniforms, books, bedding and other property belonging to 54 boys, leaving the affected learners facing uncertainty as they prepared for their final examinations.
However, the school administration, parents and well-wishers mobilised support to ensure the candidates could sit their examinations, including replacing uniforms and scholastic materials.
The Ntungamo Development Women Council donated uniforms, while the Red Cross also provided assistance. Fellow students helped the affected candidates replace some of the books destroyed in the fire.
Kemishego Secondary School headteacher Behakanira Abudur Shakur said the administration engaged parents immediately after the incident to find a way of ensuring the affected learners continued with their examinations.
“On September 25, when the boys’ dormitory got burnt, we called their parents and discussed how they would do their examinations. We later got uniforms from the Ntungamo Development Women Council. Every student who lost property in that dormitory has a new uniform,” Shakur said.
He added that the school had received assistance from the Red Cross and confirmed that all 100 registered candidates had been allowed to sit the examinations, which began at 9am with Mathematics.
For the affected learners, the support has helped ease some of the difficulties caused by losing nearly all their personal belongings shortly before the examinations.
Shahadu Musoke, one of the affected Senior Four candidates, said the replacement uniforms and assistance from fellow students had enabled them to continue with their examinations.
“We had no uniforms, but as candidates, we all have them now. All our property and books got burnt, but I thank our colleagues for assisting us with their books,” Musoke said.
Meanwhile, renovation works are ongoing at the school as administrators work to restore facilities damaged by the fire.
Although the assistance has enabled the candidates to proceed with their examinations, the school still needs support to complete the recovery process and restore a safe and conducive learning environment.