COMMENT: Zimsec should replicate June examination strategy in November

We were fearful when, a few weeks ago, the Government announced that the June-July public school examinations and those for final year tertiary students would go ahead.

We were anxious that Covid-19 cases could spike as pupils returned to school and college students returned to their institutions to take the final tests. We were concerned that social distancing, hand sanitisation and mask wearing could be impossible for the exam writers and education staff.

However, thanks to the hard work that the Government, school and college authorities and their partners put in, the spike we were concerned about did not happen.

As Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Cain Mathema told us on Monday, there was not even a single Covid-19 case reported among pupils and school staff from June 30 to July 23 when the public examinations were taken.

“We would like to appreciate those who administered the Zimsec June Examinations at the schools in particular the school/centre heads and the invigilators who remained professional and efficient despite the difficult operating environment posed by Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

“Extended gratitude goes to some centres which were not originally examination centres but stood in for schools which were being used as Government quarantine centres. Great applause goes to these centres for swiftly rising to the occasion and ensuring that the examinations were successfully undertaken.”

Also, we have not been told of any infections among college and university students and their lecturers over the period they ran their own final tests.

It is great that our fears have not come to pass. This is despite the fact that the start of the exams almost coincided with the sharp increase in the number of infections, especially community ones. This is also despite the fact that the tests were taken in winter, a period of the year that we understand provides ideal conditions for the coronavirus to thrive.

We are, however, encouraged that the Government, college and school authorities and their partners ran the exams safely and look ahead to the October to November tests with optimism. Given that the June-July examinations have been written and written safely, we don’t think there is a chance that the year-end final tests would be cancelled. Parents, pupils and those at institutions of higher learning must therefore continue operating on the basis that the impending examinations would be written as scheduled. Parents must make sure that their kids have the resources to attend the virtual classes many schools have set up.

They need to ensure that their kids participate in the educational broadcasts being run by the national broadcaster. They also have to secure alternative learning material for their children from other sources.

School authorities also need to spare no effort in getting learners ready for the October-November crunch time.

These measures would give their kids the best exam preparation possible in the prevailing circumstances.

Students at institutions of higher learning and their lecturers need to devise strategies suitable for their sector.

Having recorded no Covid-19 cases related to exam-writing students, we think the strategy that was used over the past two months should be replicated in October and November.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, speaking after the Tuesday Cabinet meeting said the Government noted that primary and secondary schools were continuing with their preparations for the re-opening of schools for final examination classes. The developed and approved guidelines that were put in place for the June 2020 examinations, she said, will be used for the holding of the final examinations in November/December.

It is important that schools had a dry run in June and July. It serves as a good basis for the taking of future public examinations amid Covid-19.

However, we are cognisant of the fact that in regard to schools, only a small fraction of pupils write public examinations in June-July with the majority doing so in October and November. This means that the template used over the past two months would have to be adjusted substantially from one that catered for a few thousand pupils and invigilators to one that is suitable for tens of thousands of pupils and invigilators.

In that vein, a lot more space and furniture would have to be secured to enable social distancing for the students and invigilators. This might mean a longer holiday for non-exam writing classes, possibly beyond November. In addition, a lot more hand sanitiser would have to be secured for use by a bigger number of people. More thermometers would have to be bought too to serve more people.