The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) says the decision by the Zimbabwe School Examination Council (ZIMSEC) to open a mop-up registration window for November candidates does not go far enough in addressing the plight of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
ARTUZ suggested that ZIMSEC should allow all prospective candidates to register and then the public examinations management body comes up with ways of getting the fees from the Government and parents. ARTUZ said:
The mop-up exercise by [ZIMSEC] will not address the exclusion of the poor from sitting for public examinations.
Registration for examinations shouldn’t be tied to any fee, ZIMSEC should devise means of recovering their monies from the Government and parents after registering all learners.
On 17 April 2023, ZIMSEC announced that it will open a mop-up registration window to allow candidates who failed to register before 14 April to be able to register.
ZIMSEC said the window will be open from the 8th to the 12th of May 2023. Part of the statement read:
ZIMSEC will carry out a registration mop-up exercise from Monday 8 May 2023 to Friday 12 May 2023 to allow centres to ensure that all their candidates have been registered for the November 2023 examinations.
Candidates who wish to sit for their examinations should ensure that they register at their centre of choice during this period.
Examination registration fees during that window are pegged according to the normal registration.
The registration fees are accepted in the currency parents and guardians are comfortable paying in.
For parents who wish to pay in ZWL, payments will be made at the prevailing exchange rate which will be communicated on Friday, 5 May 2023.
ARTUZ is a trade union that advocates for better working conditions and salaries for rural teachers, who often work in difficult circumstances with limited resources.
The union has been involved in various protests and strikes to draw attention to the challenges faced by rural teachers and to push for reforms in the education sector.
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