The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) says it will deregister schools and examination centres complicit in the leakage of examination papers.
ZIMSEC board chairperson Professor Eddie Mwenje told Sunday News on Saturday that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will deal with school heads involved in the leakage of examinations. He said:
As you might be aware, there are some headmasters that are alleged to have opened examination papers.
If that was a distribution centre, it means it would receive papers before the date of the examination, we will deregister them from being a centre.
Also, if it comes out that the administration there was involved, the Ministry (of Primary and Secondary Education) will take the necessary action.
The 2022 ZIMSEC Advanced and Ordinary level examinations were marred by irregularities, with thousands of candidates having pre-access to examination papers.
As a result, ZIMSEC nullified the results of 5 156 Advanced and Ordinary level candidates.
The A’ Level results were released on 13 January with ZIMSEC withholding results for 195 candidates.
The O’ Level results came out on 03 February with ZIMSEC nullifying the results of 4 961 candidates. Added Prod Mwenje:
Centres have to register and qualify to administer ZIMSEC examinations. They have to adhere to ZIMSEC principles.
If they fail to adhere, we simply deregister them, they will have proved their unsuitability and if the headmaster is corrupt, we do not have the capacity to remove them because we do not employ them, their employer will deal with them.
If these are private schools we just say until you put your things in order you cannot be a centre, so the students have to write the examinations somewhere else.
ZIMSEC director Lazarus Nembabware said they are in the process of fact-gathering to identify all examination centres that were complicit in the examination malpractice.
He said when the investigations are concluded, ZIMSEC will name and deregister the centres.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education director of communications and advocacy, Taungana Ndoro, said they are fully behind ZIMSEC and will allow the exams board to do its work without interference.