Sunday News
22nd November 2009
By Vusumuzi Dube
GOVERNMENT has given itself two years to fully revamp the operation of the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) amid reports that some schools are now shifting to Cambridge examinations.
Zimsec has in the past years been locked in controversy over the manner in which it administers examinations in the country with most parents gradually losing confidence and preferring to shift back to the Cambridge Examination Board.
Analysts have lambasted the examination body for largely contributing to the demise of the education system in the country.
The build-up to this year’s November examinations was marked by delays in announcing examination fees, commencement of the examinations and even threats by teachers to boycott invigilation.
Many schools appear poised to shift to Cambridge next year unless the situation at Zimsec improves. Some of those schools that are planning to switch to Cambridge have since scrapped the teaching of Ndebele replacing it with Zulu that is offered by the UK based examination body.
Cambridge Examination Board is charging an average of US$40 per subject for Ordinary Level while an Advanced Level examination is pegged at US$70.
Zimsec is charging US$10 and US$20 for Ordinary and Advanced Levels respectively.
When contacted for comment the public relations manager for Zimsec, Mr Ezekiel Pasipamire, said the move by parents was not going to affect their operations as they were mandated by an Act of Parliament to administer examinations in the country.
“We are not panicking but we will strive to fulfil our mandate of administering public exams in the country. we might be facing challenges but every organisation has its shortcomings,†he said.
In a separate interview, the Minister of Education, Sports, Art and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said it was worrying that most parents were losing faith in the examination body and Zimsec had to work hard to regain their confidence.
“We acknowledge that parents have lost faith in Zimsec thus as a ministry we are focusing on restoring confidence and this could be done by fully revamping operations at the examination body,†said Sen Coltart.
However the minister said the process was going to take sometime as the examination body was in a sorry state.
“We are not underestimating the job ahead so we are giving ourselves about two years to bring back Zimsec to the state it once was,†he said.
Sen Coltart said his ministry would ensure that Zimsec becomes efficient by employing technical experts and boosting the resources to help improve the management of examinations in the country.
“As we speak we recently bought 14 vehicles for them (Zimsec), this adding on to the fact that this year we engaged a reputable company in South Africa to print the examination papers, all this is to help improve operations,†he said.
On the threat by teachers to boycott the invigilation of examinations this year, Sen Coltart said he was in the process of engaging teachers’ trade unions with the hope of persuading them not to further jeopardize this year’s examination process.
“As a ministry one of our major challenges is that of lack of money and this affects the teachers but for the interest of the children we appeal to the teachers to be more patient and not jeopardise this year’s examination process,†he said.
Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations are set to start on 26 and 27 November this year with the last paper being written on 18 December.
Last week teachers’ unions said their members wanted compensation for the 15 “extra days†they would be working as schools would have closed on 4 December.