IN SHORT: A photo has been posted to Facebook with the claim it shows Ugandan primary school pupils writing exams while seated outside on the bare ground. But the photo is from South Sudan.
A photo is circulating on Facebook, with the claim that it shows students from Gala primary school in Buyende district, Uganda, writing exams while sitting in the dirt.
Buyende is some 140 kilometres northeast of Kampala, Uganda’s capital.
The caption for this post reads: “Pupils sitting for their Primary Leaving Examinations (P.L.E Exams) at Gala Primary School, Buyende, Uganda … In Africa we don't play when it comes to Education, we take Education very serious!”
The photo shows a large group of schoolchildren sitting widely spaced apart on the ground, in the red soil. The students, wearing green uniforms, appear to be writing or reading, possibly taking an exam.
In the background are several trees and a white-painted school building. The scene looks rural, likely from a region where classrooms are limited and lessons or exams are conducted outside. The spacing between pupils may also indicate an attempt to prevent cheating during a test.
Primary education in Uganda lasts seven years, beginning at around age six and ending with the primary leaving examinations, or PLE.
The Uganda National Examinations Board is the government agency responsible for managing national examinations.
This claim is circulating while Ugandan leaders are campaigning, ahead of elections on 15 January 2026. Voting will be for the country’s next president, members of parliament and local government leaders at various levels.
The implication is that the country’s current government has failed to provide adequate education facilities for children in rural areas, such as Buyende district.
This claim has also been posted here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But what does this photo really show? We checked.
Photo taken in South Sudan
Africa Check did a Google reverse image search of the photo. The first instance of it we could find was from 6 May 2022, in a post published by the Holy Cross Comboni Primary School in Yirol, South Sudan.
The school even features this image as their cover photo on their Facebook page.
Yirol is some 300 kilometres northwest of Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
While we cannot be certain that the photo was taken at the Holy Cross Comboni Primary School in South Sudan, there is no evidence that this photo shows students sitting for the primary leaving examinations in Uganda.
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