Despite his physical disability, 17-year-old Boniface Alema set a record in the just-released Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results for 2025, as one of only two candidates passing in Division One (with Aggregate 11) among over 70 pupils sitting at Arua Demonstration School.
Alema is one of the 6 candidates registered under Special Needs Education at the school out of a total of 72 candidates who sat for PLE at the school last year.
Having no arms, Alema uses his legs to write, a skill he learned while still in the lower primary level to cope with learning after suffering an electrocution in 2019 when he held a bare and loose electric wire that was suspended on ground in his village, which affected both his arms, leading to amputation.
From Friday last week, after the PLE results were released, it was a struggle to connect with him and the school administration, until yesterday when a contact was established and managed to locate him.
In an interview yesterday, the Head Teacher at Arua Demonstration School, Jane Candiru, described Alema’s performance as exceptional, saying that it validates the “disability is not inability” statement.
Of the 72 candidates who sat at the school, 2 of them passed in Division One, 20 in Division Two, 33 in Division Three, 13 in Division Four while one of the candidates missed exams.
It was all joy when Uganda Radio Network finally connected with Alema and his family at home in Muni Village, Ayivu East Division within Arua City.
Alema, who promised to obtain a pass in Division One in a previous interview, said his success is the result of hard work, support from teachers and fellow learners, hope and the trust in God.
He dreams of becoming a lawyer with a vision to help the community, especially those who are not able to afford legal services as they struggle and suffer at the hands of the rich who take advantage of their status.
His mother, Betty Candiru, expressed happiness for the performance and ability to have him complete primary education despite his condition.
Candiru narrated how the family had completely lost hope in his education after the incident that resulted in the amputation of his arms. However, she said that the family is still not very sure of the possibilities to ensure he progresses to secondary school, as the family could not independently support him in education but was relying on help from a sponsors.
“I am happy because of the performance. He was blessed by God to be bright even before the incident, but we had all lost hope after that. But when he resumed studies, the performance was still very good,” she said in Lugbara (her mother tongue).
Meanwhile, the Deputy Head Teacher in charge of Special Needs Education at Arua Demonstration School, Joseph Asea, cites the cooperation between different stakeholders towards the department as a factor for the improving performance of special needs learners at the school amidst challenges.
Similarly, Muzamil Juma, a P.7 class teacher at the school, said the inclusive nature of education enables learners with special needs to easily cope as they feel free to learn without stigma, as the administration also engages all learners in supporting inclusive education.
Nationally, the Executive Director of Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), Dan Odongo, reported that the performance of learners under Special Needs Education (SNE) improved, as 3,170 of the learners passed out of a total of 3,636 learners with special needs who were registered to sit for the 2025 PLE.
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