Fr. Deogratious Kiibi, the parish priest of Mpigi Parish in Mpigi district has advised school administrators not to condone indisciplined candidates.
Fr. Kiibi says that candidates are not in any way different from the rest of the students hence asking them to observe the discipline until their last day in school.
He made the remarks on Sunday during the blessing Mass of Senior Four candidates of St. Balikuddembe Senior Secondary School in Ntenjeru-Kisoga Town Council, Mukono district.
Referring to the recent decision by Ntare School management to suspend all Senior Six candidates due to vandalism of different school property, Fr. Kiibi commended the tough but deterrent decision the school made, adding that it was on point and timely.
“I believe those students will never engage in such indiscipline cases in the whole of their lives again. The punishment will serve as a deterrent measure to the rest of the candidates of other schools out there,” he said.
“A student of Senior Six is old enough to determine what is good from what is bad. If they decided to do such violent actions without minding about their future which is soon going to be determined by the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) UNEB exams which they will be sitting soon in November, they totally deserved the punishment,” he further stressed.
He however pleaded to Ntare School administrators to let the affected students go back to school and sit for their final exams.
Fr. Kiibi asked the candidates at St. Balikuddembe to avoid writing their exams under the influence of fear, which he regarded as a false evidence that appears to be real.
He asked the parents and teachers to use the remaining period to the final National Examinations to encourage their students instead of harassing them for reasons including recent poor performance.
“Any candidate at this time has the ability to pass with a first grade, even those you take as weak. We have always seen the so called weak students surprise their teachers and parents after scoring high grades while those who were being pampered for being bright students again failing at last. Let’s give all candidates equal treatment at this time,” he stressed.
He however asked the parents to beef up their children with enough pocket money which will take them through the examination period.
The school headteacher, Lydia Lukwago Kagoya said that despite the COVID 19 lockdown, which greatly affected this class for over two years, they have managed to push on up to the last minute.
“We have a lot of hope in these candidates and they have promised us record breaking results. We expect a number of them to score eight in eight and 100 percent first grades.
Kagoya asked the parents to avail their students with all the necessary scholastic materials to avoid inconveniences for their children during the exams. Together with Fr. Stephen Gita, the school chaplain, Fr. Kiibi prayed and blessed the candidates.
Kiibi assured the candidates that the prayers are enough and discouraged them not to bother to again waste their time and money going for witchcraft plus the exams malpractice.
On behalf of the class teachers, Edmond Sulume told the parents that the teachers have finished doing their best including inviting several influential external examiners who have had enough time to prepare the candidates.