LC5 chairperson in court over subjecting teacher to PLE

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The High Court in Luwero district is February 26, 2025, set to hear a case in which teachers in Nakaseke district accuse LC5 chairperson Ignatius Koomu of subjecting them to Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) exams last year.

Koomu in March last year subjected 52 Universal Primary Education (UPE) teachers in Nakaseke to sit for 2023 mock PLE papers to test their competence.

Each of the teachers was examined in their teaching subject in a move that sparked anger and attracted criticism from teachers, leaders and some government officials.

Many of the teachers who were made to sit the surprise exams scored less than 60 per cent, with some scoring as low as 27 per cent in their respective papers. However, there was one who scored 92 per cent.

The teachers and their leaders in December last year, filed a motion for judicial review contending that Koomu's move was illegal and an act of harassment and intimidation.

In the motion filed through their lawyers, J Byamukama and Company Advocates, four of the teachers who were made to sit the exams, are asking the court to issue a permanent injunction restraining Koomu and the district administration from subjecting teachers to similar competence exams.

The applicants whose document has a supporting affidavit filed by Uganda National Teachers' Union Secretary General Filbert Baguma, are contending that Koomu and the district administration don't have the mandate to examine them.

The applicants also want the court to order Koomu and the district administration to pay them damages for subjecting them to the 'embarrassing and degrading treatment' when they made them sit PLE.

According to a notice signed by the Luweero high court assistant registrar, Koomu has been directed to appear in the Luwero High Court on February 26.

Koomu's move to make the teachers sit PLE followed Nakaseke's poor performance in the 2023 PLE, which saw the district being ranked 47th countrywide.

According to the 2023 PLE results, which were released early last year, a staggering 276 candidates, representing 5.6 per cent of the total number of candidates, were ungraded. Another 138 candidates, representing 2.9 per cent, registered for the exams but did not sit for unknown reasons.

According to Koomu, the poor PLE performance in the district is partly due to the alleged incompetence of teachers in some schools.

Koomu says he dreams of seeing Nakaseke district move from its current 47th PLE position to number one.

Among those who attacked Koomu's for making the teachers sit, PLE was primary education state minister Dr Joyce Kaducu, calling the move illegal, uncalled for and demotivating teachers.

The minister said it was unfair to hold the teachers wholly responsible for the poor performance of the pupils: "Poor performance of children is a shared responsibility".

Koomu, who has paid a deaf ear to the criticisms, said on Tuesday that he was ready to appear in court to defend his move.