Arua | Reverend Amaku Rufus of St. Luke Church of Uganda, Ayaa Parish, Arua district, is one of 30 candidates sitting for the Primary Leaving Examinations at Ayaa Primary School.
Amaku, 54, has spent most of his life preaching the gospel without explaining why he dropped out of school in Primary Seven.
By the time he dropped out of school, he was a student at Ezuku Primary School in Arua district. He would soon be appointed as church warden.
According to Amaku, he has passed up several opportunities, including those in leadership positions. He attributes it to his inability to speak better English, which forced him to return to school.
He now intends to take advantage of those leadership opportunities as soon as possible.
“How can I become a leader if I am a P7 leaver and do not speak English well? So I ended up refusing the job, but I can now speak more clearly.
“Actually, my problem has been English, which is why I decided to join primary seven,” he explained.
Amaku, a father of seven children, stated that he delayed returning to the education cycle in order to pay his children’s fees.
“I was thinking to join P7 but four of my children were in secondary. I couldn’t manage to pay school fees but they now finished their school. So, I decided to join the school.”
Amasiru Lydia, the head teacher at Ayaa Primary School in Ajia sub-county, explains that the school was able to accept three dropout students, including two pregnant teenagers.
“We must encourage our children, even after they have left school, to return. If we do not have those encouraging words, they will not return.
“They love education, which is why you see them coming back to take exams,” she explained.
According to the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), a total of 798,763 candidates are taking the 2024 Primary Leaving Examinations nationwide.
Of the total, 419,357 are females and 379,414 are males.
By Anzoo Evaline
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