The future of senior four students at Musanya Secondary School in Kamuli district hangs in balance as Uganda National Examinations Board(UNEB) blocked the school centre number over an unresolved court case.
The move came shortly after the school petitioned the examination body contesting UCE exam results for 2022 and "unfair treatment".
The school protested that the results of their students for 2022 might have been altered hence seeking for the review of the answer booklets.
Enock Kiggundu, the deputy head teacher at Musanya Secondary School, accused UNEB of treating the school unfairly for the last three years with the results of the students released not corresponding with what they expect their students to get.
This "unfair treatment" he said caused some students to drop out of school.
Kiggundu said the school petitioned the examination body on the matter but their plea fell on deaf ears. Instead, the examination body told them to go to court.
"We were not satisfied with the results because we know how they(students) perform. We appeal to Parliament and the Ministry of Education to come to our rescue because this is too much for us," he requested.
The school wants UNEB to avail them with the marked students' papers for verification if the released results/marks match with those on their candidates' papers.
"They blocked the UNEB portal (schools centre number) and that is the worst thing. This means we are not going to register the candidates. The students are going to lose the whole year. Moreover, even for years wasted," he said.
A total of 22 students from this school are supposed to sit for this year's examination but if this matter is not handled as soon as possible, the students might repeat the class next year.
The registration of students ended on June 7.
Kiggundu asked the examination body to unlock their examination centre so that their students can register.
Marion Nanteza, one of the affected students who got 24 aggregate last year said she was expecting to get 15.
"In Chemistry I got credit three yet I expected distinction, in Geography I got credit 4 and I expected to get distinction two. I am not satisfied and this has affected me because I wanted to become a doctor and because of the (poor)marks I can no longer be," she said.
Another student, Patrick Musinguzi who was affected by this issue said he expected to get 16 but he ended up getting 25 aggregates. This, he said, means he cannot pursue the subject combination he wanted.
"I think some of our marks were switched. We are given the marks in the same bracket because you will find a student of 2017 like those of the previous year give the same marks. There was a student who was cleverer than us but we ended up scoring the same marks," he said.
Jordan Bukenya, an affected student, has since dropped out of the school said he got demoralised and he could not continue with the studies.
"If UNEB is sure of the marks we were given, let them show us our scripts to prove that because we are not the first students to complain. I was expecting sponsorship. So l lost many opportunities because of this," he said.
The Executive Director of UNEB Dan Odongo said that the school in question didn't explore the internal mechanisms within the board before running to court thus halting the registration of their students.
"There are procedures which Musanya Secondary School could follow if indeed they were convinced that the grades that the board gave them was a wrong grade for their candidates. If they had followed that we would have no reason not to give them what they asked at the cost that the board would ask them to pay," said Odongo.
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Kiggundu however told the Nile Post that the board instructed that each student should pay Shs 2.5 million to facilitate the retrieval of the results and the answer booklet. This, he said, is very expensive for both the students and the school.
Odongo however assured parents that they will look into the registration of these students under their special registration schedule after the disposal of the matter by court.
"It doesn't make sense for the Musanya to come to the same institution in which they have no confidence and then register candidates who are not probably not going to be given the right results. We want this case to be concluded and then we will see the way forward," he said.
