Examinations Council of Zambia seals exam leakage loopholes

STRINGENT measures to curb illegal access to examination papers have been put in place by the examinations council, Ministry of Education spokesperson Hilary Chipango has said.
The 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.
Mr Chipango said a strategic meeting was recently held by the ministry of Education, Examinations Council of Zambia and four teacher unions before the start of examinations.
“We strategised together with the security wings and have sealed the loopholes to put to an end this problem,” he said.

Mr Chipango, however, could not divulge more on the measures instituted stating that doing so would be a security risk.
“With the new measures put in place it is quiet difficult to have access to any examination paper which explains why all papers so far discovered to have been leaked are fake,” he said.
Mr Chipango said those selling fake examinations papers were just conmen who were taking advantage of the pupils.
“Those selling papers are just conmen who are just taking advantage of the pupils because they know that some of them are just desperate,” he said.
Scores of grade 12 pupils at Helen Kaunda, Kitwe Boys and Mukuba Secondary school in Kitwe on Tuesday ran amok throwing stones and burning tyres after discovering that they had a fake biology examination paper.
The pupils in Kitwe for the second time ran amok on Thursday after discovering that the leaked mathematics examination papers were in fact fake.
Basic Education Teachers Union (BETUZ) General Secretary Jeffery Simuntala, who was part of the meeting, said measures put in place include ensuring that keys to strong rooms were not entrusted in one person.

“The system will change in that keys to strong rooms in which examination papers are kept will not be entrusted in one person. For example one key to the first door is given to the headmaster while the second to another person and to the third door to another person.
“Meaning that if a paper is leaked then it is a cartel of people working together which will be easy to trace to bring them to book,“ he said.
Secondary School Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) has proposed for the introduction of regional examinations to curb malpractices.

Times of Zambia