OFFICIALS ASK UNEB TO CREATE MORE SITTING, STORAGE CENTERS IN YUMBE

By Robert Elema
 
Yumbe
 
A section of the stakeholders in Yumbe district are pushing for the creation of more sitting and examination material centers.
 
This follows the long distances travelled by the candidates to access the examination sitting centers and also late delivery of examination materials due to far storage centers.
 
Yumbe district registered a total of 10,801 candidates for PLE from 128 schools who sat in 74 centers.
 
Mr. Alex Asega the head teacher of Goboro Primary School says his candidates sit in a school which is about 15km from his school. “It was not a walkable distance from my school to Kochi Bridge primary school sitting center. I had to use my managerial skills to hire 2 vehicles to transport the candidates which was costly,’’ he said.
Mr. Asega said he raised the complaint to the education office but it was not honored and that come next year, he deserves a sitting center.
 
Ms. Flora Ayakaka the head teacher of Okubani Primary School says, every year, examination materials reach the sitting centers in Ariwa sub county late because the its storage center in Yumbe town that serves the schools in the sub county which is about 40km.
 
Currently, the district has three storage centers located at Yumbe Central Police Station, Lodonga Police station and Midigo Police post.
 
“If it's possible, UNEB should create another storage center which will be able to help the distributor access the examination materials easily,’’ Ms. Ayakaka said.
 
“During the season of the PLE, there is always rain and because of the bad roads, we have always been challenged. It has been a routine that candidates always start examinations late’’, she added.
 
The UNEB scout at Ariwa primary school sitting center Mr. Santorio Adoroti said he encountered a lot of challenges while accessing the center because the road was muddy and many vehicles got stuck on the road. “I fell twice on the motorcycle and the distributor experienced the same. The distributor arrived at the sitting center at 9:46am with the papers and the examinations started at 10:10am,” he said.
 
He said, the issue of the schools in Ariwa sub county needs consideration by creating a storage center in the area and that it’s a matter which will not be missed in his report.
 
Mr. John Angulibo the District Inspector of Schools said, it’s the mandate of the UNEB to create sitting centers and examination material storage centers.
 
“Creation of more centers can be possible if the number of candidates and the number of schools presenting candidates increase. If we had all the schools including private schools, then we would have observations to get more sitting centers,” he said.
 
He said, Yumbe had been having 64 sitting centers but this year 10 more centers were created that made the number 74.