By KT Reporter
The Uganda Health Professions Assessment Board (UHPAB) has maintained its position on a new policy that bars trainees from sitting final semester examinations if they have outstanding retakes from previous semesters.
Dr. Alfred Driwale, the board chairperson, said the policy aligns with the standards the newly constituted board intends to uphold. He questioned how the sector could justify a system where trainees proceed to final exams without clearing failed papers from earlier semesters.
Dr. Driwale, who also serves as the Commissioner of Health Services, Institutional Capacity Building & Human Resource Development at the Ministry of Health, made the remarks while addressing principals, deputies, monitors, and centre coordinators during a stakeholders’ briefing held ahead of the second assessment series scheduled for December 1 to December 12.
The UHPAB was established this year following the merger of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examinations Board and the Uganda Allied Health Examinations Board. Since its inception, the board has issued eleven directives under the new assessment guidelines. Previously, under the Uganda Allied Health Examinations Board, trainees were permitted to sit final assessments despite having pending retakes. This practice has now been discontinued.
The new policy, issued in October, triggered protests from more than 2,000 medical trainees, most of whom are in their penultimate semester. They described the directive as unfair, arguing that it threatens to delay their completion, increases financial obligations, and exerts emotional pressure. They petitioned the board to reverse the decision and maintain the old system.
Dr. Driwale said the board reviewed the concerns but resolved not to change course. He affirmed that no trainee with a retake will be allowed to sit final papers, adding that the previous arrangement was improper and the board would not revert to it.
He argued that the culture of allowing trainees to progress with retakes was a systemic weakness of the former board, either by oversight or practice, and the UHPAB is determined to rectify it. He added that other gaps will be addressed progressively as the board continues its mandate.
Principals and other stakeholders expressed support for the decision, saying the old system created disorder, with some trainees completing their final assessments and failing to return for retakes. Juliet Nassiwa, the Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of assessments at UHPAB, urged learners not to perceive the policy negatively. She said trainees with retakes will now have the opportunity to sit them in the next assessment series instead of waiting an entire year, as was previously the case.
For the December 2025 assessments, the board has registered 99,751 candidates across 215 centres. Of these, 69,567 are enrolled in nursing and midwifery programmes at 147 centres, while 30,184 are enrolled in allied health programmes at 68 centres.
However, as assessments began, principals raised concerns about timetable conflicts, including cases where some trainees are scheduled for two assessments simultaneously. Nassiwa attributed most of these clashes to multiple retakes. She said the national timetable cannot be tailored to individual cases but urged principals to report special scenarios so they can be addressed appropriately.
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