Severe flooding in Katakwi District has disrupted the delivery of Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examination papers, forcing schools to pay extra to ferry materials across submerged roads.
Overall, 280 candidates across the three counties of Toroma, Usuk, and Ngariam are sitting for the final round of the 2025 UACE examinations in Katakwi District this year.
However, the district remains in crisis. Floodwaters have inundated homes, roads, and farmland in several sub-counties, including Okore, Magoro, Ngariam, Palam, Okulonyo, Ongongoja, Tomora, Omodoi, Amusia, and Guyaguya. Some residents have resorted to using oxen for rescue and transportation.
At Magoro Comprehensive Secondary School in Magoro Town Council, the headteacher, Emmanuel Ichila, says his school is paying 6,000 shillings per trip to cross a flooded section of the Toroma-Magoro road, which has been cut off by rising water levels. He says they have been forced to use a boat to cross the flooded area.
Despite the challenges, Ichila said examinations are continuing smoothly at the school, which has 21 candidates registered this year.
At Toroma Senior Secondary School, the headteacher, George Raymond Opolot, reported that the exams began on time, though one of the ten candidates missed the exams. He says that although the school authorities made efforts to persuade the candidate to stay in school with a pregnancy, their efforts did not yield.
Elsewhere in the district, examinations commenced without any major incident. Joseph Opule, the area supervisor for station 124 and headteacher of Katakwi High School, said both Katakwi High and Usuk Senior Secondary School, with 130 and 87 candidates respectively, started their papers smoothly.
At Toroma Ark Peas High School, headteacher George Francis Isele confirmed that all 33 candidates were present for the first paper despite road disruptions on rainy days.
As the examinations continue until December 5, 2025, education officials and school administrators in the area are racing to keep learning uninterrupted amid the floods. Authorities are also optimistic that the disruption will not be lasting.
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