admin
THE Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council needs to urgently address the issue of leaked examination papers that is threatening to afflict the 2013 examinations with credibility problems. Yesterday we carried two separate reports of teachers, pupils and a university student being involved in selling this year’s Ordinary Level examination papers.
A Midlands State University student and four form four pupils from Harare appeared before a magistrate facing charges of distributing the O Level Geography examination paper for US$40.
In a related incident, a headmistress from Zhombe and five teachers from the same area were detained at Gweru Police Station on allegations of selling copies of the Ordinary Level Science Paper Two in various schools in the Midlands province.
It is possible that these two cases that have come to light could be the only ones in the whole country. But the probability is higher that they are only the tip of an iceberg and that there are many more incidents that no one has blown the whistle on.
This has the potential of tarnishing the examination process.
Furthermore, the candidates who do exceptionally well in these examinations risk being branded cheats yet some of them will have excelled through hard work, not by cramming answers to leaked papers.
It would be tempting to zero in on the link to Midlands — which cannot be ignored, as the source of the Harare leak is a student in the province. But chances are if it is happening in one part of the country, it may be happening elsewhere as well.
Over the past couple of years there have been reports of mishaps like a headmaster losing candidates’ scripts, but these have been isolated incidents.
They did not point to a systematic attempt at defeating the purpose of the examinations which is to grade candidates according to ability as set in the syllabus objectives.
Several years back, Zimsec was rocked by another leakage scandal but it appeared to have put its house in order.
This latest development shows that the institution did not do enough to establish itself as a respectable examination board.
The nation needs this institution to be beyond reproach when it comes to the administration, marking and grading of the examinations.
The results that they produce should be a reasonable reflection of a student’s ability not worthless symbols bought on the black market.
Currently many universities and colleges around the world accept Zimsec Ordinary and Advanced level results but that scenario will quickly change if the examination board does not arrest this scandal before it gets out of hand.
We cannot afford to have it tarred with the same brush that has blighted the education systems of some countries where illiterate people with enough money are the holders of advanced degrees.
It is not only a matter of sovereignty and national pride, but a practical issue of affordability.
Most pupils and private candidates would never be able to afford the charges levied by foreign examination boards like Cambridge which are much higher than Zimsec asks for.
But it would not hurt for Zimsec to use those world-respected boards as best practice standards. One element that they should copy forthwith is that of stringent spot checks.
If all heads know that teams are on the ground and can call on them at any time, they will find it easier to resist the lure of apparently easy money to be made through the selling of papers.
It is expected that Zimsec will mourn about underfunding, especially at a time when they are allegedly failing to pay markers. But the need to tighten security is not optional and they need to make it a part of their budget without failure.
Online Reporter