Reports of exam cheating worrying
Published On November 22, 2014 » 1908 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Features
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Beyond the news - KundaTHIRTY people, among them 13 teachers and nine pupils were a fortnight ago arrested in Kapiri Mposhi and Mkushi for being in possession of grade nine 2014 examination papers.
The group also included business executives from the same area who were apprehended following a tip from the public. The culprits were allegedly spotted supplying the leaked examination papers to pupils.
According to police, the examination papers were stolen from Kasalamakanga Basic School in Kapiri Mposhi, where a head teacher and three other teachers allegedly connived and sold the material to other schools and individuals.
Other teachers were apprehended from Mkushi’s Mansansa area and slapped with charges of theft and being in possession of unauthorised examination materials.
Among the schools where the examination papers for history, geography and environmental science were found, included Makolongo and Masansa of Mkushi.
Teacher unions received the news with sadness and Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) general secretary Newman Bubala said that cases of examination malpractice were unfortunate and detrimental to development.
Mr Bubala said the union was against all forms of examination malpractice because the scourge was discrediting the country’s examination system.
Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) general secretary Jeffrey Simuntala in a separate interview told this column that teachers were degrading themselves by getting involved in examination malpractice.
It is sad to note that following malpractice-free examinations at grade seven and 12 levels this year, reports of examination leakages have surfaced at grade nine.
The Government and other authorities in the education sector have made notable progress in implementing efforts of bringing perpetrators of examination malpractice to book.
Ministry of Education spokesperson Hillary Chipango recently said stringent measures to curb illegal access to examination papers have been put in place by the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ).
These measures include the strengthening of the national, district and zonal security committees with the security wings closely involved in the monitoring process of examination papers.
The mere fact that grade seven and 12 examinations this year were malpractice free signifies that the implementation of the initiatives Mr Chipango is talking about are bearing fruit.
ECZ is in the process of revising the Examinations Council Act Cap 137 of the Laws of Zambia to stiffen penalties involving examination malpractices.
We have also seen a situation where grade 12 examinations are now written in June and October, to cut down on chances of leakages.
This is why there should be thorough investigations into what led to the leakage of examination papers in Kapiri Mposhi and Mkushi.
Does it mean there could still be loopholes hindering transparency in the examination process?
Like the teacher unions have lamented, examination leakages pose a threat of not only ruining the country’s education system but deterring national economic growth.
This is because the crop of people graduating from schools will have done so through the ‘back door’ and their ability to perform will be compromised.
It also begs a question of whether or not there are effective measures to monitor issues of examination malpractice in tertiary institutions, both government and private ones.
Authorities should, however, not deter efforts of bringing perpetrators of examination malpractice to book because the country’s future lies in the education of its citizens.
Government needs the support of all stakeholders to fight this scourge especially from the teaching fraternity who play the role of equipping candidates before they seat for examinations.
ECZ still needs to continually provide information that will create a valuable feedback on the performance of learners to all stakeholders in the education sector in order to seal the loopholes associated with examination malpractices.
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