The Government says measures have been put in place to ensure that the 2021 Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) examinations are conducted in a safe environment for learners and teachers in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ZIMSEC examinations commenced this month and will cascade into 2022 after a three-week break for the festive season.
Addressing reporters after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the ministries of health and education have worked together to guarantee that continuous assessment of learning area (CALA) activities were completed on time. Said Mutsvangwa:
In order to ensure that the continuous assessments were done in compliance with COVID-19 regulations and to also ensure that the credibility of the ZIMSEC examination system remains intact, senior management was all out in full force moderating and ensuring that completion of continuous assessment of learning area activities is done by the end of November.
This year will be the first that ZIMSEC includes CALA marks into the final result for the Grade 7, O and A-Level examinations.
Under a policy framework that was recently adopted by the Government, the new grading system will see Grade 7 final results determined by 30 per cent of continuous assessment and 70 per cent on national examinations.
At Form 4, the framework states that learners’ grades be based 40 per cent on theoretical examination, 30 per cent practical examination and 30 per cent continuous assessment.