Mixed reactions to leaked ZIMSEC exam papers

The Zimbabwean

18th November 2014

The public has expressed mixed reactions to the leaked Zimbabwe Examinations Council’s Ordinary Level papers.

Some say Zimbabwe should abolish ZIMSEC and revert to Cambridge Examinations while others maintain that the locally managed examinations should be given time to establish themselves.

Of late government has announced that ‘O’ Level English and Mathematics papers had leaked and would be re-written before end of the year.

Former Minister of Education, David Coltart, noted that it was not the first time the papers had leaked and the problem was not with ZIMSEC, but school authorities who lacked discipline.

Coltart warned the nation against sensationalising the issue since ZIMSEC was trying to expand the examinations throughout the country at an affordable fee.

“The solution would be to avoid granting every school the examination centre status without meeting expected standards. Some schools have slack measures for the safe keep of examination papers leading to the leakages,” Coltart said, pointing out that the selective granting of examination status to schools should not make life difficult for rural children.

According to Coltart, he remembers an incident which involved a junior teacher ferrying examination papers by public transport and eventually losing them.

Never Kamba, an Epworth resident and businessperson, blamed poor teachers’ remuneration for the leakages.

“The leakages are partly caused by the poor earnings of teachers who set the papers and later distribute them to schools.

“I think if the country could revert to Cambridge Examination set abroad security would be tightened around the exams,” said Kamba, suggesting that the examination papers would start leaking from the institutions where they are set.

Nomore Kapini of Sunningdale had no kind words for ZIMZEC and urged government to make Cambridge Examinations compulsory without further delays.

According to Kapini, ZIMSEC had lost its integrity and it was time it adopted Cambridge without negotiations.

Kapini said: “ZIMSEC has failed to maintain security around the papers for years now. The only option on the table is to revert to Cambridge before the remains of the examination are wiped off.”

Anyway Tafireyi, a Marondera resident suggested that the examination papers be delivered to centres on the day of the sittings, or otherwise Cambridge would be the best way to go.

“If there is no fastest possible means to deliver the papers last day to schools, then external examinations like Cambridge would be the only option.

“The fact that locally set examinations would find their way to candidates through people who set them, complicates the whole issue,” Tafireyi said, suggesting that it would better if the examinations are set by outsiders from outside the country.

As a precautionary measure, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora, said the replacement Ordinary Level English and Mathematics papers would be ferried to schools by ZIMSEC officers.

Following the leakages, Ordinary Level English paper 1 and 2 and Mathematics paper 1 and 2 will be written from November 24 to November 27.

The original papers leaked at Whato Secondary School in Gweru. Some members of staff connived to sale the papers to candidates and arrests have since been made.