Mary Mutende, the Commissioner for Private Schools at the Ministry of Education, has ordered the suspension of the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) registration centre number for Seroma Christian High School in Mukono district.
In the letter dated May 28, 2024, addressed to UNEB, the commissioner indicates that the school expelled 100 Senior Four and Six students due to poor academic performance and low grades.
According to the commissioner, she did not find the school’s justification for expelling the learners convincing, because the new curriculum focuses more on building skills rather than just getting good grades.
The directive to suspend the UNEB Centre Number comes after the school’s resident director- Amelia Kyambadde and the head teacher failed to implement a decision made during a meeting at the Ministry Of Education.
The meeting attended by parents of the affected students and school management resolved that the school should readmit all the students who had been expelled and allow them to sit for their UNEB exams at the school.
The ministry’s intervention comes after a parent raised a concern about the student being expelled due to poor performance despite paying the registration fees to the school. It also came to light that the school administration had planned to have the expelled students sit for their exams at another school.
Despite the resolution made during the meeting, the school administration deliberately declined to reverse their decision regarding the student’s expulsion.
“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 25th May 2024,” the letter addressed to the UNEB Executive director indicates in parts.
The letter also indicates that the director’s action is punishable under the provisions of the law, as they deprive the learners of the opportunity to advance to the next level of education.
” I request you to temporarily Block the UNEB Registration Centre Number of Seroma Christian High School Mukono, until they obtain and present a clearance letter to you from the office of the undersigned concerning the above issue. To inform you that this act sabotage’s Ministry and UNEB plan of fully implementing the newly approved Lower Secondary Curriculum,” Mutende instructed.
The School Director, Amelia Kyambadde, said that the matter had been resolved.
“Tell me how you accessed this information. I call the PS and the Commissioner for an explanation. We handled that matter at the ministry and it was resolved.” Kyambadde noted.
However, investigations and information from the affected students and parents indicate that the school has refused to re-admit the learners even after paying school fees. The school still insists on transferring the students to another school.
Education authorities in Mukono district, led by District Education Officer (DEO) Rashid Kikomeko, confirmed receiving the directive from the ministry and promised to ensure the school complies with the directive.
“My team is yet to take action, however, it is bad for a Christian school to act weird. This practice is common within several other schools and it needs to stop. Let schools plan according to the standards within their capacity to have better results.” Kikomeko noted.
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