Eight male inmates from Ndorwa Government Prison in Kabale Municipality are among 90 candidates sitting this year’s Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at Kikungiri Primary School in Kabale District.
The inmates are part of an initiative aimed at giving prisoners an opportunity to pursue education and sit national examinations while serving their sentences.
Kikungiri Primary School Head Teacher, Phabis Twasingwire, said the school had initially registered 91 candidates for the examinations, but one female candidate failed to report for the third academic term, reducing the number to 90.
Twasingwire said this is the fourth time inmates from Ndorwa Government Prison are sitting national examinations at the centre, adding that they have consistently demonstrated good academic performance.
She said the participation of inmates in national examinations demonstrates their commitment to education and determination to acquire academic qualifications despite their incarceration.
CUE IN TWASIGWIRE…ON CANDIDATES…RR/ENG//
Kabale District Principal Inspector of Schools, Wilberforce Nabaasa, said the district registered a total of 3,887 candidates who are sitting their PLE examinations at 85 examination centres.
Meanwhile, the distribution of examination papers commenced at 7:00am under tight security at Kabale Central Police Station. Journalists were barred from taking photographs and conducting interviews during the exercise.
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) registered 920,833 candidates for the 2026 PLE, representing a 12.5 per cent increase from last year.
According to UNEB Principal Public Relations Officer, Jennifer Kalule Musamba, the candidates are sitting their examinations at 16,478 centres across the country.
She said 62.5 per cent of the candidates were registered from government-sponsored Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools, while 37.5 per cent came from private schools.
The candidates started with Mathematics in the morning and are expected to sit Social Studies and Religious Education papers in the afternoon.
