DONT SACRIFICE TEACHERS
Investigations must be thorough, we don’t want a situation where teachers are just picked when they are actually innocent. I don’t think the leakages come from teachers, there could be a cartel especially at ECZ. So we don’t want our teachers M rt. oS am pa suffer for nothing, investigations must be thorough — ZNUT.
… Investigations into exam leaks must be thorough - ZNUT
AHIGHLY placed officer at the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ) may be behind the examination paper leakages and not the teachers that have been arrested, an impeccable source has lamented. And the Zambia National Teachers Union (ZNUT) has demanded that investigations into the leaked papers be thoroughly conducted so that teachers were not used as a sacrificial lambs to cover tracks of real culprits. The source who had worked at ECZ for a very long time, told the Daily Nation that a named top official at the council with connections to the opposition may be the source of the leaked papers. The motive was to embarrass the government and sow a seed of despondency. He disclosed that the named official was very clever and cunning, and had deliberately leaked examinations at other public institutions he had worked, leading to the suspension of innocent colleagues. The source expressed confidence that the said official was behind the current examination paper leaks following the official’s track record. “This is what led me to leave my previous employment. It's a delicate matter. I am telling you, examinations where you have a cantankerous characters are a night mare. Quite frankly the gentleman cannot be trusted. As I told you we wondered how the decision to appoint him to such a sensitive position was made. He leaked exams deliberately and caused his resignation. He is a very complicated person. Very clever and canny!” he said. And ZNUT director for public relations and internal affairs, Joe Kasaka expressed concern that some teachers that have been nabbed on allegations of leaking examinations might have been innocent. Mr Kasaka reiterated that the biggest culprit with regards to examination paper leakages was ECZ itself and that some teachers were only implicated along the way. He demanded that investigations into the recently leaked examination papers be thorough so that the real culprits were brought to book. Mr Kasaka also said that ECZ needed a new management because the current had failed to put their house in order. “Investigations must be thorough, we don’t want a situation where teachers are just picked when they are actually innocent. I don’t think the leakages come from teachers, there could be a cartel especially at ECZ. So we don’t want our teachers to suffer for nothing, investigations must be thorough,” he said. Mr Kasaka also demanded for a new management at Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ), saying that the current leadership had failed to execute its duties diligently. And National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) executive director, Aaron Chansa has called on government and security wings to ensure that the real culprits were brought to book. Meanwhile an opposition party leader, Enock Tonga has called on government not to be swayed from unearthing the real culprits behind the leakages by the arresting of some teachers as they might just be sacrificial lambs. Mr Tonga, leader of 3rd Liberation Movement (3rd LM) said the arrested teachers might be sacrificial lambs to shift the attention from the real culprits. He called on government to broaden its investigations into the examination leakages.