Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZTA) secretary-general Goodwill Taderera said that the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) 2022 Ordinary Level examinations should be rewritten to preserve the credibility of the examinations.
ZIMSEC told Parliament last year that about 590 suspects were caught cheating while sitting for November 2022 Ordinary and Advanced Level final examinations.
Speaking to NewsDay, Taderera said ZIMSEC should arrange for the examinations to be rewritten in order to address the widespread leakage. Said Taderera:
<blockquote>
Everything is falling apart now. We have always red-flagged the ZIMSEC malpractices.
It has actually been going on for years. We have heard learners doing 20 subjects with flying colours and we have been suspicious.
Now this year, we had evidence of learners who had access to the papers before they sat for the examination.
That was enough reason for ZIMSEC to arrange for rewriting of the examinations to restore its integrity as an examinations body.
Rewriting is the only fair way to address the malpractice.
</blockquote>
However, Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education chairperson Torerai Moyo, said it is too late for ZIMSEC to run a rewrite. Moyo said:
<blockquote>
ZIMSEC is investigating the leakages through the marking process which would determine the extent of the cheating.
If there is a pattern of uniformity in the answers by pupils, as reported by the examiners, then there is proof of cheating. But I think it is too late for ZIMSEC to run a rewrite.
The bottom line is ZIMSEC should be accountable for how it runs the examinations.
One way is to amend the Act that governs how examinations are run to give room for stiffer penalties for cheating.
</blockquote>
| <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200005729/zimsec-marking-schemes-leaked-before-exams">NewsDay</a>

Pindula News

Teachers' Union Says ZIMSEC 2022 O' Level Exams Should Be Rewritten

The leakage of Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) Ordinary Level examinations appears to have been unprecedented in the country in 2022 as candidates had access to marking schemes before they sat for their final examinations in October and November.
ZIMSEC markers who declined to be named for security reasons told NewsDay that there is irrefutable evidence that candidates had marking schemes before they wrote the exams.
Some candidates reproduced the marking schemes for some papers “word for word” in their answer sheets according to NewsDay’s sources.
At some examination centres in Harare, the majority of pupils reportedly got high marks of up to 100% for Combined Science Paper 2 and others. An examiner who requested anonymity was quoted by NewsDay as saying:
<blockquote>
Some pupils reproduced the marking scheme in their answers, even the codes that are put on the documents to guide the markers, which the candidates did not know the meaning of.
It was clear that cheating occurred because some would write answers exactly as they were on the marking scheme but on the wrong question.
It is possible that every pupil in class can get an answer right, but not when the answer is the same in verbatim for a sentence. It is impossible unless they are copying from somewhere.
</blockquote>
ZIMSEC spokesperson Nichollette Dlamini said a comprehensive report will be published once investigations into the leakage of examinations are completed. She said:
<blockquote>
As reported to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee by our directorate and MoPSE [Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education], the marking activity was part of the measures to find those candidates who may or are suspected to have been involved in examination malpractice.
The comprehensive report and results, including those of other investigations, will be published at the completion of the exercise.
</blockquote>
Towards the end of last year, ZIMSEC officials told Parliament that about 590 suspects were caught cheating while sitting for November 2022 Ordinary and Advanced Level final examinations. | <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200005729/zimsec-marking-schemes-leaked-before-exams">NewsDay</a>

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