Over the years, there has been one silent disease in schools: Backdoor admissions.
As YUDAYA NANGONZI writes, officials in several top schools have revealed that they are forced to leave out some children who fall within their cut-off points, in favour of those sent to them by the ministry officials, schools’ founding bodies, wealthy parents, and others holding top government positions.
At every opening of the senior one and five selection/placement exercises, head teachers are strongly warned that all children who passed Uneb examinations must be placed in their schools.
Upon receiving computerized sheets containing their intake, selling and not-selected lists of students, they are issued with guidelines for the two-day exercise at the entrance of the selection venue.
The first guideline this year for S1 students read: “Admission is principally based on order of merit … and the original order of choices made by candidates.”
The two-page guidelines, signed by the permanent secretary, Alex Kakooza, go ahead to indicate on number two that “choices [of students] must be respected, especially [when] ‘selling’ students to second, third and fourth choices in that order.”
This year’s senior five guidelines also emphasized the same. But one special set of head teachers are reading different instructions as well. These are the head teachers of some of the elite secondary schools in the country.
They have to cater for another list of students that are not available on the selection lists provided by the Uganda National Examinations Board. These students are forwarded by ministry officials, founding bodies of schools, wealthy parents, and others holding top government positions. And this is why some are asking whether schools are still admitting students on merit.
This is why Education Minister Janet Museveni came out openly to answer this question. Speaking at the opening of the S5 placement exercise at UMA, recently, she directed that,
“Head teachers should disregard special admission requests, meaning that there will be no lists from me or lists that originate either from the ministry or any other special interest groups.”
As this statement raised applause from a fully-packed hall with head teachers and principals of institutions, the minister was quick to add that
“placement into the available schools and institutions will only be done on merit. Therefore, anything done outside this exercise should stop forthwith.”
For head teachers who will go ahead to admit students illegally, the minister said they will be personally held accountable. But several interviews with officials from top secondary schools show that the challenge lies with ‘big’ ministry of education and sports technocrats.
BACKDOOR ADMISSIONS
On the last day of the S1 selection process, an emcee at Lugogo called head teachers of the top boarding and day secondary schools for a closed-door meeting.
The schools included Kings’ College Budo, Namilyango College, Mengo SS, Lubiri SS, Gayaza High School, Mt St Mary’s Namagunga, Ntare School, Gombe SS and Trinity College Nabbingo.
In an interview with The Observer, Keith Kangwagye, the assistant deputy head teacher in charge of academics at Ntare School, the meeting was meant to guide head teachers on how to handle pressures of ‘backdoor lists’ of students sent to them by ministry after the selection exercise.
“They tell us owners of these students are responsible citizens who have children and relatives and deserve placement in our schools whenever we are approached,” Kangwagye said. “Yes, we listen but I believe this is total corruption. People take corruption to be money exchanging hands but such backdoor admissions is another form of corruption.”
He said the lists are usually sent to his school without explanations after about two weeks from the initial selection exercise. Last year, Ntare School received about 10 per cent of new students to consider for placement in addition to those selected during the selection process.
“Sometimes, the students sent to us have not passed very well, and on another good day, they have good marks. So, it is usually a difficult situation to say no to the list when you have been ordered by ministry of education officials,” he said.
Asked how they handle this, Kangwagye said the school strikes a middle ground and finds a way of considering the students. According to Mary Mukasa Kalyango, the deputy head teacher in charge of academics at Mengo SS, the ministry sent them about five students last year, and being a day school, it is normally not a challenge.
Of these, four had passed in division one and one in division two, which was still within their cut-off points.
“Even when the students are recommended to schools that are not their preference, they don’t turn up. In my view, this is corruption from ministry officials to send us children,” Kalyango said.
At Mt St Mary’s Namagunga, the ministry recommended about 40 students to the school as its deputy head teacher, Rachael Kironde, revealed to us.
“Whenever we are admitting students, we do it knowing that there is a list coming from the ministry and you have to create space for them. As a teacher and parent, I find this so unfair since the students don’t even give us first choices but that is how the system has been working,” Kironde said.
Kironde is one of those deputy head teachers who gave a thunderous applause to Museveni’s directive to halt back door admissions.
“I am so excited about this directive because it will give us chance to admit more girls with aggregate five that we usually leave out at senior one,” she said.
Kironde, however, explained that sometimes students that are not in their cut-off perform well while those that are weak gradually eliminate themselves from system.
“OUR HANDS ARE TIED”
An official at a top girls-only boarding school, who preferred anonymity, told us that their ‘hands are tied’ when it comes to admitting students. At this school, sometimes they consider orders given to them by the foundation body of the school.
“For instance, if I’m in a school and the foundation body is the Catholic Church, I cannot make the whole archbishop cry and kneel over placement of child recommended to us with aggregate eight because our cut-off is aggregate six!” the official said.
She revealed to us that some individuals ‘from above’ and top government officials liaise with ministry officials to have their children admitted.
“Sometimes, I feel the hands of ministry officials are also tied. An official will call you requesting to admit a child and you really feel there is some strong force behind their phone calls,” she said. “The backdoor system is not bad only that some people go ahead and misuse it. When the numbers go overboard, head teachers have a reason to speculate that the lists sent to them are not genuine.”
All teaching and non-teaching staff at this school are also entitled to free admission slots for their biological children as long as they excelled with a first grade.
James Kyewusa, the deputy head teacher in charge of academics at Lubiri SS, said head teachers sometimes honour forgeries from people claiming they have been sent by ministry officials.
“Why should I fear to report people who send me special lists? What is there to fear? If you have any challenges, report them instead of keeping quiet and suffering in silence,” Kyewusa advised head teachers.
From Mengo SS, Kalyango urged wealthy parents to also refrain from mounting pressure on ministry officials to select their children in a bid to stop backdoor admissions.
EDUCATION MINISTRY SPEAKS
Speaking on the sidelines of the senior one 2017 selection exercise, Patrick Muinda, the ministry of Education spokesman, told The Observer that the ministry also conducts ‘special’ admissions for children whose parents registered their complaints with the ministry.
“The admission committee goes ahead to analyse the cases of the registered children before they place them in various schools. However, it is worth noting that these children [scored less than the official] cut off points, ”Muinda said. “But even for those that are above the cutoff, they go ahead and surprise us with good performance at the end.”
According to Muinda, the ministry takes care of certain categories of children under the special admission process. These are; children of people on missions (children of ambassadors), children with disabilities and children with what he called complicated health issues.
“Now, for example, if a child has diabetes and a school like Gayaza High School is the nearest school to the hospital or place where the child’s health can be attended to incase of emergency, the admission committee recommends that this child be placed in Gayaza High School,” he said.
“This is an open process that applies to all people in case they approach us.”
Asked why head teachers blame ministry officials on backdoor admissions, Muinda said: “I have not heard of such a case brought to our attention and if it happens, head teachers should feel free to express their concerns to the permanent secretary.”
He added that if some head teachers want to remain anonymous, they can go ahead and do so as long as they communicate their issues. Baritazale Benson Kule, the chairperson of the admission committee and the commissioner for Secondary Education, said head teachers recently complained that the number of students sent to them is overwhelming.
“After the minister’s directive, we are going to review the guidelines for placement of students. I want to assure you that all children will be placed on merit after this review,” Kule told The Observer. “We shall now focus on those students who only had mistakes in choices for schools.”
For now, Kangwagye said the minister’s directive may not solve the backdoor admission problem at ago but hopes head teachers will get some relief as ministry officials will work with caution.
“The minister should also put her directive in form of a circular, sign it personally, and copies be distributed to all schools for purposes of record. We now feel more protected after this directive,” an excited Kangwagye said.
nangonzi@observer.ug