Sunday News
6 April 2013
THE Zimbabwe School Examination Council (Zimsec) has remained among top examination boards of repute in the continent and the world despite local accusations of maladministration and a coterie of other challenges it is facing.
Responding to questions by the Sunday News, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart said Zimsec’s marking system was top of the drawer and the envy of many examination boards in the region and held its own among the best in the world, a feat that had not been achieved by regional counterparts.
He said Zimsec had graduated from the Conveyer Belt Marking System to E – marking, which is the most up to date marking system in the world today.
Minister Coltart said although Zimsec had received a barrage of criticism locally for leakages, burglary and theft of question papers as well as failure to release certificates in time due to financial constraints, to characterise the occurrences as rampant was an exaggeration.
“Zimsec’s marking system and general administration of examinations is very credible. In fact it has improved over the years to become the envy of many examination boards in the region and hold its own among the best worldwide.
“Zimsec has graduated from the Conveyor Belt Marking System to E – marking, the most up to date marking system in the world today. Â ZIMSEC has hosted regional examination boards like Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), the Examination council of Zambia (ECZ) the national Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA), the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) and the Examinations Council of Swaziland (ECOS) all seeking to know how ZIMSEC has achieved this feat,” he said.
Minister Coltart added that a leak or an examination malpractice was not acceptable and punitive measures were always taken on those who leak examination papers with Zimsec always making sure that the leaked papers were replaced by new ones to eliminate the possibility of any candidate getting an unfair advantage over others.
He said in many such cases the examinations were taken on the original scheduled dates and thus keeping schedules intact.
“A leakage or an examination malpractice of any sort is not acceptable for any examination session. Â However, to characterize the occurrence of leakages in our examination system as ‘rampant’ is an exaggeration. Â It may also be helpful to distinguish between ‘a leak’ – where someone deliberately and corruptly allows a candidate to gain foreknowledge of the question paper and criminal activities like burglary and theft or recklessly failing to secure question papers in your custody.
“The burglary and theft of question papers in 2010 at Chongogwe High School and the loss of a question paper carton containing 13 different papers by the Headmaster of Sijaugwe Secondary School in October 2012 are among the few cases we have encountered. Â In both cases, all the papers that could not be accounted for were replaced by new ones and the possibility of any candidate getting unfair advantage was, therefore, eliminated. Â The examinations were taken on the originally scheduled dates, thus keeping schedules intact. Â While all this was disconcerting, the rigour and high quality of assessment was not unduly affected,” he said.
As regards the prompt production of certificates he said it was hampered by the lack of foreign currency in years prior to the use of the United States dollar adding that clearing that backlog was made difficult by inadequate funding levels.
He urged the nation to invest its confidence in Zimsec as it was very credible and recognised all over the world for its sterling marking system and high quality handling of examinations.