The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has taken significant measures to streamline and expedite the marking process of student scripts by hiring 14,000 teachers. This move is part of the board's efforts to enhance efficiency in handling the various levels of examinations.
Uneb has engaged approximately 6,000 teachers specifically for the marking of Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), while an additional 8,000 teachers have been contracted to oversee the marking of Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) exams.
According to Ms. Jennifer Kalule, the spokesperson for Uneb, the marking process is set to continue until the end of December. The board anticipates releasing the initial set of results, starting with PLE, during the third week of January 2024. She provided this information during a media briefing held in Kampala yesterday.
The marking exercise commenced in 33 marking centres located in the districts of Kampala, Wakiso, and Mukono. Thirteen of these centres are designated for the marking of PLE scripts, while the remaining 20 are allocated for marking UCE and UACE scripts.
Ms. Kalule further disclosed that the UACE candidates would complete their papers by December 1, with a significant number having already finished their examinations the previous Friday.
While Ms. Kalule did not disclose the specific locations of the marking centres, she assured that they are strategically situated within Kampala, Wakiso, and Mukono for effective coordination.
The PLE examinations for this year began with candidate briefings on November 7, followed by the written exams on November 8 and 9. A total of 749,347 candidates from 14,442 examination centres registered for PLE, with 53 percent being females (391,558 candidates) and 48 percent males (357,789 candidates).
The UCE examinations spanned from October 13 to November 17, with 364,421 candidates registered across 3,861 examination centres. Of these candidates, 184,064 were female, while 180,357 were male. Uneb is diligently working towards ensuring a smooth and timely release of examination results.