The Minister of State for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo, has pledged to look into the Nakaseke District situation, in which Ignatius Koomu Kiwanuka made primary seven teachers take assessment exams after a poor performance in the 2023 PLE results.
This came after the Speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among, asked the Ministry of Education to explain the circumstances during the special plenary sitting on Friday, March 15, 2024.
Muyingo admitted that Koomu’s actions shocked the Ministry and that a team of officials is camped in Nakaseke district to investigate the matter, and upon conclusion, Parliament will be updated.
“As a Ministry, we were shocked to learn this from the media, and because we know Nakaseke Local Government isn’t an official examination body, we have sent our team on ground to find out what is exactly happening. Could this be true? I want to assure you that after we have done the study, we will come back and submit it to you,” Minister Muyingo assured.
The Speaker’s directive followed a concern raised by Allan Mayanja, the Member of Parliament for Nakaseke Central, who said that the teachers forced to sit these exams approached him complaining that Koomu’s examinations were disrespectful.
Mayanja said that this prompted him to seek clarification from the government on whether this was a policy that was adopted by the Ministry of Education.
“The LCV Chairperson subjected PLE mock examinations to primary teachers in Nakaseke for those schools that performed badly, and students failed PLE examinations. The Minister of Education should come and explain how the policy is implemented. Some teachers are approaching me, saying they are being disrespected in line with that,” Mayanja remarked.
This week in Nakaseke District, 40 P7 teachers were subjected to a competence exam after their respective schools performed below average in last year’s PLE. In response, the Ministry says they have taken up the issue, which became famous on social media.