PHOTO BY; UNICEF

BY; ROSE KASIGWA

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) today, officially commenced the 2025 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) with Mathematics in the morning and Social Studies & Religious Education in the afternoon.

Reports indicate the examination went on well in various parts of the country except some few reported cases like in Lira where police arrested three people in connection with attempting to bribe a UNEB scout with shs 1 million.

Police spokesperson for North Kyoga region,Patrick Jimmy Okema said that the suspects are being held at Lira central police station and their case file has been forwarded to the resident state attorney for further management.

Police also warns that as the exams conclude tomorrow with Integrated Science in the morning and concluding with English in the afternoon they will not hesitate to prosecute anybody who is found involved in examination multi practice which will smear the integrity of UNEB.

According to UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo, a total of 817,885 candidates have registered for the examinations, representing a 2.5% increase from the 797,444 candidates in 2024. The candidates are sitting from 16,140 examination centers across the country, with 428,356 (52%) females and 389,529 (48%) males.

UNEB revealed that 522,039 (64%) candidates are funded by the government under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme, while 295,846 (36%) are privately sponsored. The examination also includes 61 inmates from Luzira Upper Prison School — 54 male and 7 female.

This year’s examinations are being conducted under the theme “Embracing security and holistic assessment of learners in a dynamic environment.”