No exam leaks recorded: Zimsec
THERE were no cases of question paper leakages during this year’s public exam sittings, the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) has confirmed.
Nearly 700 000 candidates sat the 2023 end-of-year exams, which began on September 25 and ended on November 30. The development marked a significant improvement in the management of public exams from previous years, when there were several cases of question paper leakages.
In an interview, Zimsec public relations manager Ms Nicholette Dlamini Moyo said a combination of tight security involving distribution and storage of the papers, coupled with the introduction of regulations imposing stiff penalties on offenders, had deterred malpractices.
“We did not record any cases of malpractices,” she said.
“We believe that all stakeholders worked with Zimsec to implement the new security measures, hence the lack of leakages.
She added: “There are no notable trends in exam cheating and the different types of malpractices that used to occur in previous sessions.
“This year, we had our security personnel working with State security and the police in monitoring examinations across the country. Daily distribution of question papers, provision of answer sheets with security features and secure storage at cluster centres have helped the examination board to weed out cheating.”
This year, question papers were delivered to exam centres under heavy security escort. This was done on the day candidates sat the exam as part of new measures introduced to prevent leakages. In addition, Zimsec recently introduced statutory regulations imposing nine-year jail terms for individuals convicted of leaking exam papers.
Security teams were also deployed countrywide to monitor the conduct of exams in schools. At the same time, eight people were arrested for fraudulently selling fake exam papers on social media in October.
The spokesperson added: “On October 15, Zimsec issued a statement informing the nation that some fraudsters had been marketing and selling fake 2023 November exam papers on social media platforms.
“Centre heads and Zimsec worked closely to fight leakages against exam malpractices. They followed exam regulations and also provided extra security at centres where question papers were stored. The Zimsec handbook for centres gives set guidelines for running examinations and Zimsec gives support where necessary.”
She said this year, 287 167 learners wrote the Ordinary Level exams, while 35 061 sat the Advanced Level tests.
In total, 392 959 candidates sat the Grade Seven exams.
Announcing the release of Grade Seven results recently, Zimsec board chairperson Professor Eddie Mwenje said: “There has been a steady increase in the candidature and the performance of the Grade Seven candidates since 2021. Candidature steadily rose from 325 573 in 2021 to 372 603 in 2023, while the pass rate rose from 41,13 percent in 2021 to 45,57 percent in 2023.”