A total of 159 examiners contracted by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) to mark the 2024 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams have withdrawn from the exercise, citing dissatisfaction with payment rates.
The affected subjects include Physics and Agriculture theory papers. UNEB had contracted 7,000 examiners for this year’s marking, covering both the new curriculum and the transitional/old curriculum examinations.
Senior examiners reported for coordination with subject officers on November 30th, while the rest of the examiners joined marking centers on December 6th to finalize preparations.
However, when marking was scheduled to begin on December 13th, the two groups of examiners objected to the adjusted rates of pay and declined to start the exercise despite UNEB’s efforts to negotiate with them.
According to UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo, approximately 100 out of over 400 Physics examiners and 59 Agriculture examiners walked out, leaving their roles unfulfilled. UNEB management had explained that payment adjustments had already been made in line with the dynamics of the new curriculum and the available resources, but this explanation did not satisfy the dissatisfied examiners.
Despite the walkout, UNEB reassured the public that marking is progressing as planned, with the majority of the examiners continuing their duties. “Marking is going on smoothly for all the subjects and papers under the new curriculum as originally planned,” Odongo said, noting that over 6,800 examiners have shown great patriotism and dedication to ensuring the success of the marking exercise.
Jennifer Kalule, UNEB’s spokesperson, said attempts to negotiate with the examiners were not successful. The examiners abandoned the marking center at Namugongo Secondary and Vocational School on December 16, 2024, claiming the payment did not reflect the hard work involved, especially with the new lower secondary curriculum.
“We know that 56 examiners have left the marking center. UNEB spoke with them, but they chose to leave. However, we have enough examiners left to continue marking without delays,” Kalule stated.
The departure of the 159 examiners highlights ongoing concerns over remuneration for professionals engaged in national exercises and underscores the challenges faced by UNEB in balancing resource limitations with examiner expectations.
While the incident posed some challenges, UNEB remains confident that the marking exercise will be completed on schedule, ensuring timely release of results for the inaugural cohort under the New Lower Secondary Curriculum.
