The Chronicle
18 October 2012
The swift action by the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council to withdraw thirteen Ordinary Level examination papers after an acting headmaster lost them while travelling from Bulawayo is the kind of quick intervention that public institutions are expected to take whenever things go wrong.
Zimsec did a good job by not wasting time to move in and rectify the situation. This will certainly salvage the integrity of our examination system. In the past leaks of examination papers have compromised the security of our examination system. But Zimsec has in recent years worked tirelessly to restore the confidence that had become the hallmark of our schools examination system and indeed the greater Zimbabwean education sector. Government has since independence toiled to build an education sector that has become the envy of the world. This is the reason why graduates of the Zimbabwean education system from secondary school level to tertiary level (universities, polytechnics and teachers’ colleges) have found it easy to fit into any situation in the world. Our education standards are still high up there but all stakeholders — Government, Zimsec, school authorities, parents and students themselves — must never sit on their laurels to preserve the world class standards that are synonymous with education in Zimbabwe.
Zimsec board chairman Professor Norman Maphosa announced on Wednesday that the school examinations body had withdrawn thirteen O Level examination papers after an acting headmaster of Sijawugwe Secondary School in Bubi District lost them while on his way to the school after collecting the papers from Bulawayo. The timetable for the O Level examinations, however, remains unchanged and the examinations will start on 29 October as scheduled. The withdrawn examination papers were for English (Paper 1 and 2), Mathematics (non-calculator version Paper 1 and 2), Integrated Science (Paper 1, 2 and 3), Commerce (Paper 1 and 2) and Ndebele (Paper 1 and 2). Professor Maphosa said the examinations body was working on replacing the papers and examinations will go ahead at all 2 118 O Level centres without disruption. At least $850 000 will be required to replace the missing papers and that is quite a substantial amount given the inadequate resources that Zimsec has to contend with. However, the examinations body will have to bear the cost of printing other examination papers following the unfortunate incident involving the Sijawugwe Secondary School acting headmaster Mr Panganai Zimunhu. We urge the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to take disciplinary measures against Mr Zimunhu while Zimsec should continue to search for foolproof methods of getting examination papers to schools and other examination centres. It is unfortunate that Zimsec is not adequately funded. If the examinations body was well-funded the ideal way would have been for Zimsec to take the papers on its own to the schools and other examination centres. Since this is not feasible for now, it is then incumbent upon school authorities who are charged with collecting examination papers from Zimsec regional offices to take all the necessary precautions to guard against leaks.
In recent years, Government and donors had greatly assisted Zimsec to prevent leaks of examination papers.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart was once quoted saying: “Objectively, we have seen a huge improvement in Zimsec compared to the past two years. I don’t argue that Zimsec is perfect. A lot needs to be done to re-establish public confidence but it’s a process. At the moment we have a strong board and a financial team that has brought a lot of financial discipline. Zimsec will become a centre of excellence in the region.”
Indeed all Zimbabweans share Minister Coltart’s vision for a Zimsec that it is a centre of excellence in the region.
But for that to happen all the relevant stakeholders must play their part to maintain the integrity of our examination system.