Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) Amendment Bill falls short of expectations as it fails to tackle the legislative gaps arising from changes the education sector, the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Unions (Fozeu) has said.
Zimsec has gazetted the Bill to amend the existing law, which obligates access to the fundamental right to education and the establishment and regulation of schools, the conduct of examinations and provides for the well-being of students and teachers.
In a statement yesterday, Fozeu secretary-general Obert Masaraure said the amendments only addressed examination leakages and malpractices by expanding the scope of offences, increasing penalties and introducing institutional accountability while sidelining important technicalities.
“The Act is silent on the whistle-blower framework and the protection of the same. Most examination malpractices go unreported because there is no clear reporting framework.
“The amendment fails to integrate the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in the value chain of the examinations,” he said.
Masaraure said the Bill needed to accommodate the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) as it has more personnel with potential to assist with the plugging of holes necessitating the leakages along the value chain.
“Devolving the management of examinations through MoPSE would bring the management closer to communities and make Zimsec more responsive to challenges of malpractices.
“The Zimsec remains detached from the real running of exams and will not be able to tackle the cancer of malpractices.”
Masaraure said the Bill failed to mandate the remuneration for invigilators and other critical players in the examination value chain.
“The Bill is silent on tackling the perennial crisis of delayed payment for examiners. Low morale among invigilators and examiners threatens the integrity of examinations.
“The Bill fails to align the Zimsec Act to both the Education Act and the Constitution. The laws of Zimbabwe now provide for State-funded basic education.
“The examination process is part of the education system and the Act should articulate the disbursement model of funds from Treasury to Zimsec for the running of public examinations.”
He said section 21, subsection (1), paragraph (c) of the Act should be repealed, saying students should not be made to pay examination fees.
“The Bill is silent on how to efficiently integrate continuous assessment into the examination system. The wording and structure of the Zimsec Act were for the final examinations, not the new system, which includes continuous assessment. Integrity of continuous assessment is an area demanding some intervention,” Masaraure said.
He said the Bill also failed to cut unnecessary expenditure and is likely to lead to the ballooning of expenditure.
“The creation of the office of the chief executive officer is usually accompanied by an upgrade of the office to a better salary scale.
“Increasing mandatory board meetings will also add another cost burden. The board is not involved in the running of Zimsec.
“The role of the board is policy formulation. Two meetings per year are enough for the body to guide the CEO and the team.”
He added that the inclusion of experts in the Zimsec board was also an unnecessary expenditure.
“The Bill, therefore, fails to address all the challenges facing the examination system. Citizens should participate in hearings to give their views on the Bill. This is an opportunity to protect the integrity of the examinations,” Masaraure said.
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