The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has recommended sanctions against the headteacher of Bamure Primary School in Koboko District, along with unnamed UNEB officials implicated in the mishandling of the 2025 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) scripts.
The incident came to light following the release of the 2025 PLE results on January 30, 2026. All 34 candidates from Bamure Primary School (Centre No. 000451) were recorded as ungraded (“X”) in Integrated Science, despite having sat the examination.
The anomaly immediately raised concern among parents, school administrators, and the Koboko District Inspector of Schools, who directed the headteacher to file a formal complaint.
Subsequent investigations established that the sealed envelope containing the Integrated Science answer scripts had inadvertently been left behind at the school by UNEB officials after the November 2025 examinations. The scripts were later discovered intact inside a lockable UNEB materials box kept in the headteacher’s office.
The recovered scripts were handed over to authorities and briefly held at Koboko Central Police Station to verify that there had been no tampering. They were then forwarded to UNEB for expedited marking and grading.
UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo addressed the matter, stressing the need for accountability. He confirmed that UNEB had submitted formal advice to the Ministry of Education and Sports’ Sanctions and Rewards Committee, recommending disciplinary action against both the headteacher of Bamure Primary School and the UNEB officials responsible for the lapse in the chain of custody.
“We have already submitted to the Ministry advising them to sanction those involved, as this was unacceptable. There was negligence that cannot be ignored,” Odongo said.
He further noted that the scripts were processed promptly after recovery, and the results were released in time to allow the affected learners to participate in the national selection exercise. This, he explained, was intended to minimise disruption to the candidates’ academic progression.