…and when marks go missing yet you sat for the paper,” posted Zahra Abdul, a second year student of Journalism and Communication, on her facebook wall on 16th October, 2013. “I’m going through the same and it seems like a dead end,” commented King Pattoh Banks. “I passed through that, it’s going to be a long journey, put effort,” added Sheme Joyce. More comments came through alluding to the prevalence of this problem.
The issue of missing marks takes different forms. “Some complain that they sat for exams but can not see their marks, others claim that the marks have never been displayed online while others claim to have missing course works and tests,” explains Mr. Joseph Okurut, the examinations coordinator at the Department of Journalism and Communication.
Dr. Ernest Okello Ogwang, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, academic affairs, says the issue also involves students who want to claim marks for papers they never sat for. “It is true that some students do not actually sit for a test or exam or hand in a course work just like it is true that some lecturers misplace students’ scripts,” he says.
Whereas, many claim that the problem of missing marks is widespread, Dr. Umaru Bagampadde, the dean of the School of Engineering at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology, says that such cases are minimal. “For our college, we have fewer cases of missing marks. The most disturbing cases that we have are students complaining that the marks they have (scored) do not meet their expectations,” he explains.
Students blame lecturers while lecturers blame students for missing marks. “It’s the lecturers who lose students’ marks. It neither the student nor data entrants at the examinations office,” says Jackline Nangobi, a fourth year student of Journalism and Communication.
Mr. Okurut disagrees with Nangobi and is careful not to blame either party. He advises students who have missing marks to go trace them from examination coordinators. “I can not blame one factor or one person. There are so many factors, sometimes combined to create missing marks,” he says. “Students should go to the examination coordinators who will then look through the system and see where the problem is, either the marks have not been delivered to the unit (in case of electives outside departments) or there was a human error somewhere,” he advises.
The issue of missing marks is one of those that have left question marks on the academic image of Makerere University. The blame gain on who, between the lecturers and students, is responsible for this problem has been prevalent for years.