Zimsec exams preps on course

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
PREPARATIONS for the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) 2021 public examinations are on course, Government and teachers’ unions have said.

Threats of an industrial action which could plunge the examinations into chaos have also been dismissed since Government is working on improving teachers and the rest of civil servant’s conditions of service.

The examinations are set to start with Grade 7 pupils writing on November 29. Ordinary and Advanced Level candidates will start in December and exam writing will overlap into January 2022.

Schools will close on December 17.

Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education communication and advocacy director, Mr Taungana Ndoro in an interview yesterday confirmed that examination preparations were well on course.

“November 2021 examination preparations are well on course as we speak. There’s no strike to talk about, teachers are noble and are committed to duty,” he said.

Mr Ndoro said examinations are starting with Grade 7 pupils sitting for the first examination paper on November 29.

“O and A-levels will follow in December until January,” he added.

Mr Ndoro said there were ongoing consultations to address teachers’ grievances.

“The attendance of teachers is well above average in schools nationwide. We are looking at over 95 percent of teachers reporting for duty,” he said.

The secretary-general of the largest body representing teachers, the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) Mr Goodwill Taderera also said examinations preparations were in full swing.

“As Zimta, we held a meeting in Bulawayo recently where we made a declaration to Government to look into our grievances which include the issue of paying the invigilators well which is one of them.

We are confident that Government will address our issues. As regards preparations for the examinations, they are in full swing, there is no strike taking place,” he said.

Government had previously stated that it is possible to write public examinations this year despite disruptions to the school calendar caused by Covid-19 pandemic.

This year schools were supposed to open in early January for the first term but ended up reopening in March.

Schools then closed on June 4 and were set to reopen on June 28 but the reopening was postponed. Schools were eventually reopened on August 30 for examination classes and September 6 for the rest of the classes.

Due to the pandemic, school holidays have been prolonged, leaving learners with limited time to have face-to-face lessons. Schools have been relying more on virtual lessons and radio lessons which some learners have failed to access.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education introduced catch-up strategies to bring learners up to date.

This includes blended learning and teachers can combine some topics and also target certain key topics in order to compress the syllabus, and online learning.