Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), which ended yesterday, were conducted smoothly despite some minor cases of malpractice, officials said yesterday. Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) said it had arrested four teachers for allegedly taking part in alleged malpractices. Modeste Mbabazi, RIB spokesperson, said the quartet was arrested in connection with either helping students answer questions or answering questions for students. “RIB investigators are investigating each case and the findings will inform the next course of action. Teachers should value exams and let students prove their ability during examinations, helping them to cheat is conterproductive,” he said. Police said that the security personnel deployed at all examination centres worked hard to ensure that Rwanda Education Board conducts incident free examinations. Commissioner of Police John Bosco Kabera, the Police Spokesperson, also said that; “Exams went on peacefully and ended peacefully.” Kabera said the police will keep working closely with all stakeholders to guarantee security in the forthcoming O’Level and Advanced Level exams. “It is the normal annual event and therefore, there is nothing new that we are expecting in the forthcoming exams as far as security is concerned, police personnel are ready to do their job,” Kabera said. Some candidates who sat for the just-concluded exams expressed optimism to get positive results. Denise Abayisenga, 14, from GS Remera in Kigali, said the exams went well despite complications in some subjects. “All exams went well. Some papers were somehow tough. STE (Elementary Science and Technology) was hard and in Social Studies we were asked questions which we did not learn, I sometimes had to guess the answers,” she said. This is the first time candidates are sitting exams in line with the new Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), which was launched three years ago. “I, however, have hope to pass the exams though I may not excel in all the subjects. I have hope that I will get enrolled in a boarding school and perform well to become a medical doctor in the future,” Abayisenga added. This year, 255,578 candidates registered for PLE exams. Candidates started with Mathematics and Social Studies on Monday before doing STE on Tuesday and English and Kinyarwanda languages on Wednesday. Marking the exams will start in December followed by grading and placement in O’Level. PLE and O’Level results will be released in the first week of January and A’Level results weeks later, according to REB officials. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
