The administrators of Seroma Christian High School in Mukono are packing following the letter by the Ministry of Education asking Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) Executive Director Dan Odongo to temporarily block the UNEB Registration Centre Number.
In a letter written on May 28, 2024 and signed by the Commissioner for Private Schools and Institutions (PSI), Mary Mutende for the Permanent Secretary, the Education Ministry said that Seroma denied over 100 Senior Four and Senior Six students from registering for their final UNEB exams.
The letter further reveals that though the learners have had the rest of their education at Seroma, paid all the necessary school and UNEB registration fees to the same school, they were refused to register for UNEB exams just because they produced poor academic performance and law grades.
The administrators of Seroma Christian High School are also said to have terminated the affected students on May 20, 2024. As a result, the Ministry has warned that the school’s acts are punishable according to the provisions of the law since they deprive the learners of their opportunity to progress to the next level of education.
“It is so unfortunate, by denying the students their right to register for UNEB exams and also have them terminated from school, Seroma Christian High School inflicted pain, psychological torture and financial stress to both the learners and their parents,” the Ministry’s letter to UNEB partly reads.
According to the Education Ministry, it received the complaint from one of the affected parents and they invited the school administrators that included the headteacher and the resident director, Amelia Kyambadde for a meeting at the ministry with the Commissioner Private Schools and Institutions department on May 25, 2024.
Though Seroma Christian High School’s headteacher and director Amelia Kyambadde in the meeting with the department of private schools and institutions had resolved to allow the terminated students be readmitted and registered to sit for UNEB exams from Seroma, following the guidance given by the education ministry’s officials, the latter are faulted to have refused to abide by the resolutions.
Commissioner Mutende is said to have personally called Seroma Christian High School headteacher and resident director Amelia Kyambadde but her calls went unanswered. It is further alleged by Mutende that at a later stage, Kyambadde blocked her number.
“This is an act of impunity on the part of the director clearly showing that the terminated learners were not going to be considered as earlier agreed in the meeting of May 25. In a bid to support parents of the affected learners in this crisis caused by the director of Seroma Christian High School who refused to pick her calls or call back and also went ahead to block the number of the commissioner PSI, we have resolved that Seroma should not access registration for any of its learners to force the school to abide by the resolutions taken during the meeting,” the letter to Odongo further reads.
UNEB is therefore instructed to temporarily block the UNEB registration Centre Number of Seroma until they obtain and present a clearance letter to the exams body from the commissioner (Mutende) concerning the matter.
Mutende added that Seroma’s act sabotages the Ministry and UNEB’s plan to fully implement the New Approved Lower Secondary Curriculum.
Mukono Municipality Town Clerk who was copied in the letter was requested to prevail over the headteacher and the resident director of Seroma Christian High School to ensure compliance.
When our reporter called Seroma Christian High School’s resident Director, Amelia Kyambadde to confirm whether the school had fulfilled the Education Ministry’s resolutions of readmitting the terminated students and have them registered to sit UNEB exams at Seroma, she was just bitter and eager to find out who leaked the information regarding this matter to the media.
Kyambadde asked who leaked the letter to the media saying also the meeting was confidential between the school administrators and the Ministry’s officials and that she did not expect anyone to again leak the information to the press.
She said that the matter had been earlier resolved even before the Education Ministry wrote to UNEB.
However, because Seroma Christian High School which is located at Lufunve village in Nakisunga sub-county in Mukono district does not fall under the jurisdiction of Mukono Municipality, the matter was referred to Mukono District Education Officer, Rashid Kikomeko to handle and follow up.
Kyaggwe TV has learnt that the normal UNEB registration exercise ends on May 31, 2024, though there is still time for the late registration which calls for extra registration fees.
Kikomeko said he was going to do his best to ensure that the matter is resolved early enough to enable the affected students to get a chance of registering for UNEB and be able to sit for their exams and progress to the next level of education.
The DEO condemned schools which allow students to have their normal education for the lower classes and when they get to the candidate classes, they are terminated to register for UNEB from other schools giving poor performance and weak grades as one of the reasons.
“It is not Seroma Christian High School alone practicing this vice, however I am warning the schools practicing this habit to stop it,” he said.
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