At least five (5) babies were delivered by candidates during the last two days as they sat their Primary Leaving Examinations, the Uganda National Examinations Board has revealed.
UNEB says the babies were delivered from different parts of the country, namely Rubaga, Mpigi, Serere, Ibanda and Tororo.
Jennifer Kalule Musamba, the public relations officer of UNEB says the babies were delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday, adding that mothers and babies were admitted to hospital.
“ Some of the mothers had to rushed out of examination rooms to and deliver but we allowed them to continue with the examinations after,"she noted.
Meanwhile, ten breast feeding mothers also sat PLE and were given an additional 45 minutes. This is the first time that the examination body has come out to offer such assistance to expecting or lactating mothers.
This however, may not be the case next year.
Kalule noted that these provisions will only apply this year across all education levels due to several cases of pregnancies that were reported during the national COVID-19 lockdown.
At least 200 finalists are believed to have conceived during the 6 month long period during which learners remained home so as to forestall the spread of COVID-19.
A total of 749,811 candidates were expected to sit for the primary leaving examinations this year from 14,300 centers. According to a statement released by UNEB, no cases of candidates missing exams due to registration irregularities were recorded.
