Seven students from two secondary schools in Gulu City have missed the 2026 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations, which commenced on Monday, due to imprisonment, drug abuse, pregnancy and unexplained absenteeism.
The students are among 3,554 candidates registered to sit the examinations in Gulu City.
According to city education officials, five of the missing candidates were registered at Charity College Gulu, a private secondary school, while two others were enrolled at Gulu Army Senior Secondary School, a government-aided school.
Jerose Adoch, the Deputy Headteacher of Charity College Gulu, told Uganda Radio Network (URN) on Monday that five candidates who had registered for the examinations failed to turn up.
Adoch said inquiries established that one of the students was serving a prison sentence over offences committed outside the school, while another was undergoing rehabilitation for drug abuse.
She added that another student had misused money intended to pay school fees, while two others failed to report for the examinations for reasons the school could not establish after attempts to contact their parents proved unsuccessful.
Adoch said that although about a quarter of the school’s candidates had not cleared their school fees by Monday morning, management did not bar any student from sitting the examinations because of outstanding payments.
In an earlier interview, she said the school had negotiated with parents on alternative arrangements for clearing fee arrears, including immediate cash payments or contributions in kind through livestock or labour provided by parents or students.
Richard Kibwota Okidi, a Senior Education Officer and Acting Gulu City Education Officer, confirmed that two candidates had also missed the examinations at Gulu Army Senior Secondary School.
Okidi said one of the candidates, a female student, had become pregnant and failed to report for the examinations despite being asked to do so. The other candidate, a male student, had dropped out of school, and his whereabouts remained unknown.
Despite the absenteeism, Okidi said the examinations commenced smoothly, with all examination centres starting on time and no major incidents reported.
Gulu City’s examination zones comprise seven government-aided and 30 private secondary schools participating in the UCE examinations.
The government-aided schools include St Joseph’s College Layibi, Sacred Heart Secondary School, Gulu High Senior Secondary School, Gulu Army Senior Secondary School, Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School and Pece Senior Secondary School.
According to the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), a total of 503,214 candidates registered for the 2026 UCE examinations, representing a 16.4 per cent increase from the 432,163 candidates registered in 2025-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
