Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke, Zimpapers Correspondent
THE 2026 Grade Seven examinations got off to a smooth start yesterday, with candidates sitting for the indigenous languages paper in the country’s first-ever fully fledged Heritage-Based Curriculum examinations, held under calm and well-organised conditions across the country.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson Mr Taungana Ndoro said officials who visited several schools observed that both pupils and invigilators were punctual, while examination rooms provided adequate spacing.
“Examinations started today with the indigenous language paper. Everything was smooth,” he said.
“We went around a couple of schools and noticed that our pupils, teachers and invigilators were all punctual and the examinations were held in a quiet environment, with spacing which was very good for our learners.”
Mr Ndoro said the ministry was optimistic that the pass rate would improve this year, with officials targeting between 70 and 80 percent, compared with about 50 percent recorded last year.
“We are expecting that our pass rate for this year is going to surpass the pass rate for last year, which was around 50 percent, so we are hoping to achieve around 70 to 80 percent pass rate,” he said.
This year’s examinations are also a litmus test as they are the first fully fledged examinations under the Heritage-Based Curriculum (HBC). Mr Ndoro said the new curriculum had also brought changes to the assessment system, including the use of school-based projects.
“We are also happy that this is the first time full-fledged Heritage-Based Curriculum examinations are being implemented,” he said.
“This is the first time that the examinations have been written without the continuous assessment learning activities. This is the first time that we are using the school-based projects completely under the Heritage-Based Curriculum.”
On examination security, Mr Ndoro said the country had maintained a clean record since 2022, with no reported pre-access to national examinations.
“We are proud as the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education that we have not had any pre-access to examinations since 2022,” he said.
“It has been foolproof. In fact, exam leakages have now become a thing of the past.”
Mr Ndoro said the proposed Zimsec Amendment Bill would further strengthen the security and integrity of national examinations through deterrent penalties for those who attempt to compromise the examination system.
“We do not expect any leakages going forward. The integrity and probity of these examinations remain top-notch in Africa and also amongst the best in the world,” he said.
The ministry urged parents seeking boarding places for their children for Form One in 2027 to wait for the electronic application platform, which will open soon. Mr Ndoro said the platform would specifically cater for boarding vacancies, while day-school places remained available countrywide.
“Those who are interested in placing their children in boarding schools in 2027 should wait for the electronic platform that we offer as the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education,” he said.
He warned parents against rejecting boarding offers to later discover that vacancies had been filled.
“We have had challenges where parents select schools and, when the results are out, they then decide that the school is not the school that they wanted their child to attend,” Mr Ndoro said.
“They decline offers that they are given by schools and then they cry foul when they fail to secure places. They end up sending their children to day schools because they rejected or declined boarding offers. ”
Grade Seven exams will run for the next two weeks and end on October 6 while Ordinary and Advanced level exams will commence on 12 October.
