Primary Seven candidates and teachers at Nawanjuki Baptist Primary School in Busowa Town Council, Bugiri District, were briefly thrown into panic on Tuesday morning after a snake entered an examination room shortly after pupils had settled to sit their Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) Mathematics paper.
The sudden appearance of the reptile sent candidates rushing out of the hall, while some attempted to pursue it. The snake eventually disappeared into a hole near an electricity pole.
To prevent further disruption, school administrators assigned a teacher armed with a stick to keep watch over the spot as candidates returned to the examination room and continued with their papers.
The school’s Deputy Headteacher, Jeric Namulega, said the incident caused a brief interruption but did not significantly affect the examination process after precautionary measures were put in place.
She said examination papers arrived at approximately 9:15am, by which time the candidates had already assembled and were ready to begin.
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“The examination papers arrived on time at about 9:15am when the candidates were already organised and ready to sit the paper,” Namulega said. “We are grateful that our pupils managed to sit Mathematics and Social Studies without further disturbance. I believe that, if all goes well, they will excel in these examinations.”
Namulega also praised parents for supporting candidates by providing meals during the examination period. However, she expressed concern about the challenges schools face in running programmes following government restrictions on collecting money from parents.
“The directive by the Minister of State for Local Government, Mr Balam Barugahara Atenyi, prohibiting headteachers from collecting money from parents to run school programmes has disrupted some of our key school activities,” she said.
Beyond the unusual incident at Nawanjuki Baptist Primary School, concerns have also emerged over candidate absenteeism at several examination centres across Bugiri District.
At Nakawa Muslim Primary School in Busowa Town Council, Headteacher Abdallah Magumba said one registered male candidate failed to turn up for the examinations.
He said the school attempted to establish the pupil’s whereabouts by contacting his parents, but they reportedly said they did not know where he was.
“We tried to follow up on the boy by contacting his parents, but they told us they did not know where he had gone,” Magumba said. “However, some sources informed us that he was in Kampala collecting empty plastic bottles for sale.”
Magumba also warned that inadequate feeding could affect pupils’ concentration and performance, calling on government to consider providing meals in schools.
“I think the government should find a way of providing food for pupils because some parents, especially those with children in lower classes, have not paid anything since the beginning of this term,” he added.
Kasongoile Primary School Headteacher Scovia Achom, who works in Buwunga Sub-county, similarly raised concerns about absenteeism and the welfare of candidates.
Achom warned that more pupils could drop out in coming academic years unless parents, teachers and government work together to address the challenges facing learners.
“We need to protect these children, especially girls, because they cannot stay at school on an empty stomach,” she said. “This could eventually affect their performance unless government, teachers, and parents strengthen their working relationship.”
Bugiri District Inspector of Schools Nuhu Bisatu Kibira said preliminary reports from examination centre inspections had revealed several cases of candidates missing the national examinations.
He attributed some of the absences to child labour and early marriages, saying some pupils had reportedly been married off while others were engaged in activities such as cutting sugarcane and collecting plastic bottles for sale.
“During the inspection we conducted yesterday, when pupils were sitting Mathematics and Social Studies, headteachers reported that some candidates had missed the examinations for various reasons,” Bisatu said. “Some had been married off, while others had gone to cut sugarcane or collect empty plastic bottles for sale.”
Bisatu said the district education department was preparing a petition seeking legislative intervention to address the factors contributing to school dropouts.
“We want the district council to enact by-laws to ensure these children are safe and protected,” he said. “Such practices are directly contributing to our poor performance, leaving Bugiri ranked among the worst-performing districts in the country.”
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