adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is pushing for mandatory custodial sentence for people who tamper with public examination papers.
The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council has over the years been grappling with the challenge of exams leakages which at times have forced the examinations body to re-set some question papers.
Most offenders have in the past escaped with non-custodial sentences.
Responding to concerns over failure to maintain quality standards of education raised by Members of the National Assembly in Parliament recently, the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Professor Paul Mavhima said his ministry, was doing everything that it could to curb examination leakages. Binga South National Assembly Member, Joel Gabuza, asked Prof Mavhima to explain the measures that have been put in place to punish school officials and pupils caught leaking examinations.
Prof Mavhima said his ministry together with Zimsec was working on many strategies that include lobbying for mandatory custodial sentence for examination leak culprits.
“The ministry is exploring the possibility of introducing a mandatory custodial sentence of up to 10 years for anyone convicted of tampering with our exams. We believe a mandatory jail sentence will be deterrent enough,” said Prof Mavhima.
The deputy minister acknowledged that most cases of leakages involved officials from his ministry.
He said the new technologies have also played a part in fuelling exam leakages.
“The issue of examination leakages is a matter of concern to my ministry. Admittedly, some of the leakages involved members of staff in our rank and file, though the leakages that occurred last year showed more complex situations where even those that are directly involved in the printing have become a part of that. The situation has been worsened by technology and the use of social networks to distribute papers that would have been leaked. Where our members were involved, due process as prescribed in Statutory 1 of 2000 (as amended) have been taken and therefore, the culprits are being brought to book,” he said.
The leakages, Prof Mavhima said, have however, never occurred at Zimsec offices, a development that has proved the credibility of the examination body in handling the national examinations. He said plans for Zimsec to take ownership of the printing process were at an advanced stage.
Prof Mavhima said a state-of-the-art printing press was being installed in Norton and was expected to be fully operational sometime this year.
The Deputy Minister also said the ministry had instructed regional managers to reduce the distance travelled by headmasters who carry question papers to their schools, especially in Matabeleland North and South, Masvingo, Manicaland and Mashonaland West provinces, where schools are far apart.
He said Zimsec was also exploring the possibility of using technology such as the grid lock system to curb exam leakages.
“The grid lock system uses electronic locks that enable smart interaction with the secured examination question paper boxes such that, at any given time, the examination administration staff is aware of even any attempts to open the parcels because a signal will be sent to the control centre.
“The locks can be programmed to open at a given time window, to bar any “early” opening of the sealed examination parcels. These are some of the steps we are taking in order to ensure that there is security for our public examinations,” said Prof Mavhima.
Online Reporter