Newsnet
30 September 2009
The announcement by Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Senator David Coltart that his ministry is not further extending the O and A level exam deadline has raised serious concern with some quarters arguing that the ministry is taking the country back to the pre-independence era of the bottle-neck education system.
The announcement by Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Senator David Coltart that his ministry is not further extending the ‘O’ and ‘A’ level exam deadline has raised serious concern with some quarters arguing that the ministry is taking the country back to the pre-independence era of the bottle-neck education system..
At a time when the country’s education sector is striving to get back on its feet after a period of challenges among them, a prolonged industrial action by teachers and delays by the Zimbabwe School Examination Council, ZIMSEC to release results, it appears the journey towards the restoration of the country’s education sector is doomed.
Having inherited an education system founded upon a flawed policy of racial discrimination and a colonial prejudicial bottle neck system, which denied Africans funding in education, the new majority government managed to transform the country’s education landscape.
Due to a deliberate policy by the government which invested heavily in education and health, the country’s education system became the envy of the continent and various Zimbabwean professionals who are excelling in various capacities around the globe are testimony of the investment of the 1980s.
Problems have however bedeviled the education sector of late and on Tuesday, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart announced that there is not going to be a reprieve for thousands of ‘O’ and ‘A’ level students who failed to register for forthcoming exams before the 25th of September, which was the deadline for registration.
He said: “We are going to engange the cabinet. Its unfortunate that those who failed to pay before the cut off date will have to write their exams next year. We will ensure that they write next year.”
The decision has sparked debate. Chief Executive Officer of the Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children Father Taylor Nyanhete believes the Ministry’s decision is outrageous.
“It is a child’s right to write exams, and the decision by the ministry to bar those who failed to pay is not fair, they should sit down and discuss this issue and ensure that everyone writes the exams,†he said.
An educationist Mr. David Mutambara is of the opinion that even though the country needs to have a credible exam system there is no need for the ministry to charge exorbitant fees which the majority of parents can not afford.
It’s an issue of sacrifice and the responsible ministry should ensure that the exams remain credible as they had lost this in the past few years†said the veteran educationist.
What makes the situation worrisome is the impact of the decision not to extend the exam registration period.
Many parents are now asking whether this obsession with deadlines benefits the country in any way.
Others argue that it is ironic that the same ministry that is on the record for failing to publish public examination results on time has suddenly become so strict about deadlines.
What can not be disputed is that rules are made for people, not people for rules, thus it follows that if regulations can not benefit people , then the existence of such rules can not be justified.
The mere mention that 70 percent of students will not be sitting for their exams is enough to create social discontent in society. For this definitely smacks of the long gone Rhodesia era where education was a preserve of the elite few.