Shattered dreams

Sunday Mail
By Kudakwashe Bwititi
18 October 2009

Goodwill Bosha, a bright Form Four student at Chipadze High School in Bindura, has always harboured a burning ambition to become a medical doctor. To ensure he achieved his dreams, Bosha deliberately chose to pursue science subjects like Chemistry, Biology and Integrated Science. He was supposed to sit for the examinations this year as a first step towards achieving his goal. But now, the uncertainty surrounding this year’s examinations has thrown his ambitions into disarray.

Apart from the problems haunting the examinations system, Bosha failed to register for all the subjects that he wanted to write because of the prohibitive costs. Out of the nine subjects that he has been studying for the last two years, Bosha managed to register for only five. His decision was a stop-gap measure reached after consulting with his parents who faced financial constraints. It was their hope that he would pass all the five and attain the minimum O-Level passes.

Bosha is not alone in this predicament as reports indicate that nearly 70 percent of the pupils have failed to register for examinations this year.

“I now realise that it will be difficult to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor because I will not sit for some of the subjects that are required for the profession,” said Bosha. “I have now changed my goal and I intend to become a teacher instead.”

Many other O-Level and A-Level pupils were disappointed to learn that they could not afford the required examination fees which their parents and guardians regarded as prohibitive. It costs US$10 for a single subject at O- Level and US$20 for A-Level.

The examinations, which were supposed to start this month, were postponed and new dates are yet to be announced.

Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association secretary-general Mr Richard Gundane said the exam crisis was impacting negatively on the lives of schoolchildren. He said it had become difficult for the pupils to concentrate on studying for examinations for which they did not have dates.

Consequently, said Mr Gundane, the examination candidates, who are mostly teenagers, were now prone to delinquent behaviour because of disillusionment over the credibility of the exam system.

“The whole examination scenario is disheartening,” said Mr Gundane. “You should remember that the children are the future of tomorrow, but as things stand, these children have little hope of a brighter future. “Teenagers are a very sensitive group and we have heard reports of some students turning to prostitution and other unbecoming behaviour because they have lost hope of attaining a better life through education.”

Mr Gundane noted that the exam crisis should be addressed urgently because it was important to provide sound education to the pupils.

“Because the brain drain is already affecting our economy, our country has to churn out as many skilled people as possible and this process starts from the students,” he said. “Our schools have to continually produce students that can become skilled professionals to fill this gap. If the examination crisis persists it can harm the economy because the skills will not be able to produce the skilled labour force.”

As well as negatively affecting schoolchildren’s lives, the examination crisis also impacts negatively on the country’s capacity to produce a large pool of skilled labour.
More worrying is the fact that O-Level students who wanted to sit for practical subjects like Technical Graphics, Fashion and Fabrics, Metalwork, Woodwork, Food and Nutrition and Building have been most affected by the examination crisis.

Last week, it was reported that most students who wanted to sit for the practical examinations will not to do so this year because of the flawed registration system of the practical subjects.

Practical exams are traditionally done earlier than theory papers, but this year both Zimsec and the Government did not timeously alert the schools and the students on how the early practical exams would be tackled.

A student at George Stark High School, Mbare, Lawrence Chifamba, said he was the only one in his class to write the Technical Graphics paper. Others failed to sit for the paper after they did not register on time because their parents were still looking for the fees.

Chifamba said he was finding it difficult to prepare for other subjects because of the uncertainty surrounding the exams. “By this time we are supposed to know the exact dates and when we would be writing the exams, but there is still no timetable,” said Chifamba.

“It is very difficult to prepare because I am not even sure whether the exams will be written this year. But I am still studying hard just in case and I hope to do my best.”
The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture recently extended the examinations registration dates to Friday last week to give parents more time to raise the fees.
At the close of the deadline, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, announced that parents and guardians could make arrangements with schools and regional education offices to pay the examination fees in instalments.

Although there was a last-minute rush by some students to register, teacher organisations say that the majority of exam candidates, especially those in the rural areas, could not make it.

Zimbabwe National Youth Council information and communication officer Mr Tanzikwa Guranungo said youth empowerment would remain a mirage if students failed to write examinations.

“As a youth organisation, we believe that education is a key factor in empowering the youths,” he said. “But we feel that the youths are not being empowered because most of them will not be able to write their O and A- Level exams this year.

“The Government should ensure that all the deserving candidates write the exams so that the youths can further their education and empower themselves.”

The situation has been compounded by the fact that staff at the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council recently went on strike demanding a pay increase. Analysts said the timing of the strike was unfortunate as it was meant to force the authorities to act quickly on their demands to avoid compromising the exams. They are demanding at least US$400 a month for the lowest paid worker.