Parliament Seeks Legal Exceptions as UNEB Rules Out Emergency Papers for Missed Examinations

The Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oboth-Oboth, has criticised the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) for ruling out emergency exams for candidates who miss the national examinations.

The debate followed concerns raised by Kigulu County South MP Andrew Kiiza Kaluya, who cited UNEB’s 2025 reports indicating that approximately 13,200 candidates across Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), S4 and S6 failed to sit their examinations.

Kaluya said the candidates missed their papers due to circumstances including illness, accidents, childbirth, domestic violence and natural disasters, despite having registered, paid examination fees and prepared for the assessments.

State Minister for Primary Education Phyllis Chemutai told Parliament that UNEB considers a second sitting impractical and unsustainable, noting that the law governing the examinations does not provide for such an arrangement.

However, Oboth-Oboth challenged the rigid application of the law. He questioned the Attorney General’s office over the absence of provisions that would allow authorities to consider exceptional circumstances, arguing that the current legal framework leaves little room for fairness and equity.

Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi acknowledged that the law could be amended to accommodate affected candidates.

“The laws are not cast in stone. They can be amended,” Kafuuzi said, proposing a possible window of “let’s say a month” for candidates who miss their examinations. He, however, emphasised that any such arrangement would require legislative changes, noting that Parliament also controls the national budget. 

The Uganda National Examinations Board Act governs the administration of PLE, UCE and UACE examinations but does not provide for a routine second or special sitting for candidates who miss their papers after registration. UNEB has traditionally maintained that candidates who fail to sit examinations must wait for the next examination cycle. 

The board has cited the logistical demands of setting, printing, distributing and securing examination papers across thousands of centres, as well as the need to safeguard the integrity and comparability of results. 

There have, however, been exceptional interventions. In 2022, following a ministerial directive, UNEB administered a special Mathematics examination to 23 candidates from a school in Kakumiro District who arrived late after walking a long distance when their transport failed.

The arrangement was described by officials as a one-off intervention. Subsequent appeals for special examinations have generally been rejected, with UNEB citing logistical challenges, the scale of the requests and the absence of a clear legal framework. 

The board already provides special examination arrangements for candidates with approved educational needs, including extra time, large-print papers, Braille, sign-language interpreters and other forms of support. 

However, candidates who are completely absent from the examination period because of temporary medical conditions or other unforeseen circumstances are not covered by these arrangements. 

The figures cited by Kaluya speak to the consequences of the current policy, with thousands of registered candidates potentially losing an entire academic year because of circumstances beyond their control. 

Education advocates and some legislators have argued that a narrowly defined mechanism for special examinations, supported by clear eligibility criteria and evidence of the circumstances leading to absence, could promote fairness without compromising academic standards. 

UNEB and education officials, on the other hand, have raised concerns about the financial and logistical implications of organising additional examinations, the risk of examination malpractice and the potential for unequal treatment of candidates.