Teachers up for exam leaks

TWO Masvingo-based teachers appeared in court on Monday for allegedly accessing and selling Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council’s June and November 2017 examination papers.

Paradzai Rumutsa (30) and Josphat Muza (27) appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Gedion Ruvetsa facing charges of contravening Section 35 (a) and (b) of the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Act ( chapter 25:18), which prohibits gaining access to and revealing examination material.

They were remanded to December 11 on $100 bail. Prosecutor Ms Linda Gadzikwa alleged that sometime in March this year, the two and their accomplices — Presley Moyo, already in custody; Resistance Shamuyarira and Brighton Imbayago, still at large — contacted relatives and friends around the country in search of buyers for leaked June and November 2017 Zimsec examination papers.

It is alleged that in June this year, the pair approached a number of people sitting for the Zimsec June 2017 examinations and provided them with the question papers a day before the examinations.

The court heard that the accused were paid $1 050 through EcoCash for providing the leaked question papers.

It is further alleged that on October 16 this year, Rumutsa and Muza, together with their accomplices, sent the Zimsec November 2017 Mathematics Paper 2 to about 10 students, who were to sit for the examination the following morning.

They allegedly went on to do the same when the Mathematics Paper 1, English Paper 2, Accounts Paper 1, Integrated Science Paper 2 and Paper 3 and Commerce Paper 1 examinations were being sat for.

After a tip-off, police made investigations, leading to their arrest.

The police recovered soft copies of the leaked Zimsec November 2017 examination papers, including a trail of EcoCash payments on their cellphones.