Panicky Hours For UNEB As UCE Exams Kick Off This Monday Amidst Teachers Strike

By Our Reporter 

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has made an urgent appeal to striking teachers across the country, asking them to temporarily suspend their industrial action and join in supervising the 2025 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations scheduled to begin Monday, October 13.

In an official statement issued Friday evening, UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo urged the striking arts teachers to “accept and join us for a few days” to ensure a smooth and credible conduct of the national exams, which will see a record 432,159 candidates sit for papers at 4,308 examination centres across the country.

“The Board takes note of the concerns of the teachers leading to the industrial action,” Odongo said. “However, we request that the teachers do not tag the supervision of national examinations to the strike. We ask for their indulgence to accept and join us for a few days of the conduct of the examinations, to enable us to effectively assess the achievement of the learners they have taught over the years.”

The ongoing teachers’ strike has thrown the examinations body into a logistical crisis, with fears that hundreds of centres may be left without adequate supervision if the impasse continues into next week.

However, the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) swiftly rejected UNEB’s plea, reaffirming its decision to boycott all supervision and invigilation duties.

Philbert Baguma, the UNATU General Secretary, confirmed the union’s position in an interview, saying, “None of our members will supervise the UCE exams because our industrial action is still ongoing. We understand UNEB’s concerns and those of parents, but teachers are parents too — we also have our own children in school.”

Baguma reiterated that the strike is not against the students but a fight for fair treatment and salary justice, adding that “teachers can no longer continue working under discriminatory pay policies.”

The ongoing strike stems from a long-standing pay disparity between arts and science teachers. In recent years, the government significantly raised the salaries of science educators, leaving their arts counterparts and primary teachers behind — a move UNATU describes as discriminatory and divisive.

The union has since refused to return to work until government commits to harmonising salaries across all teaching disciplines, citing the constitutional principle of equal pay for equal work.

Meanwhile, UNEB announced it has partnered with security agencies and independent exam professionals to safeguard the integrity of the national exams, warning candidates, invigilators, and school heads against any form of malpractice.

“The UNEB Act prescribes heavy penalties, including imprisonment of up to ten years or fines of two thousand currency points, for anyone caught facilitating or engaging in cheating,” Odongo reminded.

Despite the mounting uncertainty, UNEB says all logistical arrangements are in place for the official start of the 2025 UCE examinations on Monday, with the theme: “Embracing security and holistic assessment of learners in a dynamic environment.”