PLE: 3,900 pupils miss mock exams in Kasese

The Kasese District Education Department has expressed concern over the high number of Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) candidates who missed mock exams.

Mr Selevest Baluku, the acting district inspector of schools, explained that while the district registered 12,751 candidates for the 2024 PLE, only 8,817 attended the mock exams. “We registered 12,751 candidates for this year’s PLE, and this is the number we expected to participate in the mock assessments.

However, 3,934 candidates did not attend the mock exams. The question is, why didn’t they show up?” Mr Baluku asked. He noted that absenteeism for the mock exams has occurred in previous years, although this year saw a marked increase.

In 2023, only 271 of 11,502 candidates missed the mock exams, while 963 of 12,316 candidates missed the exams in 2022. With PLE starting on Wednesday, Baluku said school authorities must ensure that pupils who missed the mock exams do PLE. He urged head teachers to work with local leaders to locate the families of missing students and mobilise them to participate in the exams.

“We are very concerned, we have already engaged the head teachers to work closely with parents and locate these learners,” he said.

Baluku also revealed that some students missed the mock exams due to lack of support from parents, who failed to provide necessities such as scholastic materials or pay agreed required fees.

Mr Eric Meso, the head teacher of Kabatunda Primary School in Kabatunda-Kirabaho Town Council, Busongora County North, reported that four of his 192 candidates missed the mock exams. The school, which has an enrolment of 1,062 pupils, found that some parents were unaware of the mock schedule.