The Ministry of Education and Sports has directed schools not to prevent any candidate registered by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) from sitting their end-of-cycle examinations because of outstanding school fees or other charges.
The directive follows concerns that some schools have been denying UNEB-registered candidates access to their examinations over unpaid fees.
Dr JC Muyingo, the Acting Minister of Education and Sports, said the directive requires schools to allow all candidates duly registered by UNEB to sit their examinations regardless of any outstanding financial obligations.
The Ministry said the directive is based on the Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post-Primary) Act, 2008, which mandates the Minister responsible for Education to ensure that national education policies and objectives are implemented and observed.
Under the directive, “any UNEB-registered candidate must be allowed to sit his or her end-of-cycle exams irrespective of whether he or she has any outstanding school fees or charges owed to the respective school.”
However, the Ministry has provided a mechanism through which schools can recover outstanding fees without preventing candidates from sitting their examinations.
According to the directive, headteachers are required to formally notify UNEB of candidates who sit their examinations before clearing outstanding fees. This will allow the examination body to withhold their results until the outstanding dues are settled.
The Ministry further directed headteachers to formally inform UNEB once the outstanding fees or charges have been cleared so that the withheld results can be released.
“It is the responsibility of the responsible headteacher to formally inform UNEB when to release the results of any candidate(s) whose results had been withheld on account of non-payment of outstanding school fees or charges by the time the student sat his or her UNEB end-of-cycle exams,” the Ministry said.
The directive also prohibits schools from imposing penalties on candidates who settle outstanding fees after sitting their examinations.
“The payment of any outstanding school fees or charges by UNEB-registered candidates who were allowed to sit their end-of-cycle exams prior to settling such dues shall not incur any penalty or fee,” the Ministry directed.
Muyingo said the directive is intended to ensure that outstanding school fees do not prevent eligible candidates from completing their national examinations.
The Ministry has consequently called on school proprietors and foundation bodies, chairpersons of School Management Committees and Boards of Governors, headteachers, education administrators at all levels of government, and the Executive Director of UNEB to ensure compliance with the directive.
