What has happened this year is a sharp and excellent departure from the shameful past where most candidates had prior access to papers, National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) has said concerning this year’s national examinations.
In a statement issued today, NAQEZ Executive Director Aaron Chansa said after having independently overseen national examinations for grades 7, 9 and 12 this year, the organisation is excited that no cases of malpractice were encountered.
[We are] happy with the general administration of 2019 national examinations.
NAQEZ salutes the Ministry of General Education, the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ), all school administrators, teachers across the country, all security wings, parents, the media, civil society and all the 2019 candidates for delivering credible national examinations.
he said.
Poor administration of examination saw Zambia record the highest cases of examination leakages in Southern Africa.
Mr Chansa said he hopes that the success recorded this year will forever change the well-known narrative of having condemned national examinations.
And he has challenged the Ministry of General Education and the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) to avoid complacency.
This is now time to work harder and consolidate the feat which has been scored. It is time to begin planning for much more superior national examinations for 2020. We should never allow exams to be leaked in this country again.
he said.
He observed that ECZ and the Ministry of General Education managed to seal the leaks, security was enhanced and candidates wrote without undue advantages, unlike previously when papers for national examinations were actually past papers because candidates saw them before writing.
NAQEZ will in 2020 mount vicious sensitisation crusades against examination malpractice in a bid to ensure that learners and citizens understand the consequences of cheating during examinations.
Mr Chansa has further urged the Ministry of General Education to plan for the 2020 national examinations and make it a priority to fund the distribution of papers.
Forcing schools to fund this expensive undertaking has been in very bad faith and must be avoided at all costs. The ministry must also consider giving allowances to supervisors and invigilators as a way of motivating them for doing extra work.
he said.