Exam leakages sadden ZNUT
Exam leakages sadden ZNUTWritten by Allan Mulenga
Friday, November 21, 2008 4:46:42 AM
ZAMBIA National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) secretary general Roy Mwaba yesterday disclosed that over 120 Grade 12 pupils countrywide were involved in examination malpractices.
And Mwaba said the union was saddened by the number of pupils who were found cheating during examinations.
In an interview, Mwaba said the union had condemned the teachers and pupils who were found cheating during examinations.
"We totally condemn all those teachers and pupils who were involved in examination leakages because the conduct is against the policy of the teaching profession," he said.
Mwaba said it was unfortunate that reports of examination leakages had continued to be high despite the measures that the union had put in place to curb the vice.
"As a union we are deeply saddened by the reported cases of examination malpractices. It worries us much especially when we see that the number of cases involving examination leakages continues to rise," he said.
Mwaba said there was need to find a lasting solution to the practice because leaving the matter in the hands of the law enforcement agencies was not an ultimate solution to preventing a recurrence.
"Leaving the issue of examination malpractices is not a solution. The concerns the government and civil society have raised about leakages can only be addressed if they work towards addressing the root cause of the problem," he said.
Mwaba claimed that the government and the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ) were to blame for the spate of examination malpractices recorded countrywide.
"Unlike lawyers and other professionals, teaching and lecturing in Zambia does not belong to the accreditation body and as such teachers are not scared to commit an offence. It is so because they know that if today they are found giving pupils leakages and later being reprimanded, the following year the same teachers will be found teaching somewhere else in other schools," he said.
Mwaba said there was need for the government to introduce a Bill to Parliament that would seek to form an accreditation body for the teaching profession so that teachers who would be found abrogating the rules and regulations could be barred from practising anywhere in the country.
"Right now teachers are engaging in leakages because there are no stiffer laws that stop them from doing so. And with the existing high poverty levels, teachers are not afraid to engage in the business of selling of examination papers to parents and pupils at any price they feel like," he said.
Mwaba said the local examination body was also to blame for the high wave of examination leakages.
"The ECZ also should share the blame about the examination malpractices that we are seeing now. This is so because of the loose linkage that exists between the ECZ and the Ministry of Education," he said.
Mwaba said examination papers take too long to be delivered to respective examination centres, thereby giving room for security personnel to temper with the papers.
"We urge the ministry to revise its timing on delivering examination papers to schools because examination papers should only take one or two weeks before the beginning of the examinations," he said.
On Wednesday, 13 Grade 12 pupils from selected schools in Northern Province were expelled after they were found with pre-written examination papers, while the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) arrested two teachers in the same province in connection with examination leakages.
On Tuesday, 17 Grade 12 pupils at Nchelenge High School in Luapula Province were expelled after they were found with pre-written examination papers.
Several other cases of examination leakages have been reported in other provinces.
On Thursday, five Grade 12 pupils at Kawambwa Boys High School were fined K 500,000 each for unauthorised possession of Chemistry examination paper III.
Another Grade 12 pupil at the same school was fined K600, 000 for being in possession of Mathematics Paper I answers stuck on his white T-shirt.
posted by MrK @ 4:48 AM
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