In recent years, the number of international schools in Uganda has grown, with many Ugandan families opting for alternative curricula—like the American system—in hopes of providing their children with a world-class education that aligns with global standards.
However, these students face a persistent challenge when transitioning to Ugandan institutions or applying for local scholarships: The Ugandan National Examination Board (UNEB) has made the process of equating international qualifications to the Ugandan curriculum opaque, inconsistent, and, in many cases, biased.
On paper, the system is straightforward, but in reality, it’s such a bureaucratic system!
The equating officers most times don’t have an idea of the American curriculum and education system, and they are hell-bent on not giving you an audience or doing the research for themselves.
Other sources say if you oil their hands, their ignorance of the curriculum disappears right before your eyes. This has led to considerable frustration for parents, students, and school administrators, who have had to endure delays, pay bribe “facilitation fees,” and, ultimately, contend with an unclear system that affects their children’s futures.
The issue at hand is not reluctance by UNEB to equate international qualifications, but rather their failure to adapt the process to modern educational realities and to make it public and transparent, and yes, corruption-free.
Take, for instance, UNEB’s current stance on equating American high school qualifications. UNEB has stated that a Grade 12 qualification—which, by international standards, is equivalent to the final year of secondary education—should equate to Uganda’s Senior 4 level, a step that defies both logic and fairness.
This mismatch in equivalency standards does not simply complicate the process; it significantly undermines the academic accomplishments of students coming from an international system and limits their options within Uganda.
If you are lucky, they will equate the results to joining a Ugandan university but demand that you study a full year of pre-entry university education. For the most part, universities don’t have any curriculum for this extra year; they don’t know what to teach you.
The lack of stringent accountability has left the system vulnerable to corruption. Anecdotal evidence suggests that those who do not “facilitate” their applications with unofficial payments face delays, rejections, or arbitrary decisions on equivalency.
For parents and schools who refuse to engage in such practices, the consequences have been severe: students lose out on scholarship opportunities, miss application deadlines, or find themselves inadequately placed in local institutions.
Some have opted to take their children to Kenyan universities who go on to excel in their careers. How about those who can’t afford or don’t want that option? This is not only unfair to the families who are trying to navigate the system honestly, but it also stands in stark contrast to Uganda’s stated commitment to providing quality education for all.
