The headmistress and teachers of Migyera UWESO Secondary School in Nakasongola district are in trouble for allegedly embezzling fees for mock examinations.
The school is said to have instead administered forged examination papers to students.
More than 50 senior four students and their parents are accusing the headmistress, Florence Nantege, of conniving with the teachers and administering forged and recycled examination papers to students. Migyera UWESO secondary School is part of Uganda Women's Efforts to Save Orphans (UWESO), a non government organisation which was founded by First Lady Janet Museveni shortly after NRM government took over power.
A student who preferred anonymity for fear of being victimized, says that they paid over 1.6 million shillings to sit examinations from Central Regional Teachers’ Association, but they were shocked to receive a Geography paper from the previous year which they had been revising.
She adds that the school head teacher got old papers and retyped them at the school with an intention of embezzling the fees paid for external examinations. She says that the students resolved to reject them and demand for original papers they paid for but the head teacher brought police and later sent students home.
Ali Mayanja Masereka, a parent says that they paid fees for mock exams with an aim that the students are tested ahead of the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) exams. Mayanja says that his child must sit external examinations or else the school refunds the money.
He also accused the headmistress and board of governors of neglecting their duties which thrown leading to three students’ strikes within one year. He wants the school management to be investigated for embezzlement and negligence of duty.
Another parent, Justine Nakayagyi, says that in the first term, the school management also ordered students to pay 30,000 shillings for internal tests but their children never sat for any until now and the money was not refunded. Nakayagyi says that the headmistress and teachers are now interested in enriching themselves.
Nakayagyi wants Nakasongola District Education Department to order the headmistress to repay the funds to parents and administer internal exams if they have failed to secure external papers.
The headmistress Florence Nantege, however, denies embezzling the funds but admits that some of the examination papers were the same as old papers. She insisted that they got the papers from the Central Region Teachers’ Association which students paid for. She explains that there are indisciplined students who incited their colleagues to protest against the exams so that they are withdrawn for fear of failing.
Nantege says that the students have been sent back home until September 3 with only two papers done out of 14 and that the board of governors will decide on the matter.
//Cue in: “The board is going to sit………
Cue out:…….substandard exams.”//
The Nakasongola district Education Officer George William Kajura says his office is still investigating the matter.
URN Reporter could not get a comment from Central Region Teachers' Association.
Recently, students of Nyendo Mixed Secondary School in Masaka also rejected the mock examination after they were given question papers from individual schools rather than from Uganda Muslim Teachers Association-UMTA which they had paid for.
