Published by the government of Zimbabwe
9 October 2008
editorial
Harare — THE cornerstone of any education system is its standard of assessment that, to a large extent, determines the quality of graduates it produces.
This assessment, whether at school or tertiary level; must adhere to set standards if its certifications are to be accepted internationally.
Zimbabwe's impeccable education system owes its standing to the efficiency and credibility of the examination system that, in the first 20 years of independence, was run in conjunction with the University of Cambridge Local Exami-nations Syndicate.
At the turn of the millennium, there was a move to localise national examinations, culminating in the formation of the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council that was tasked with running national examinations at primary and high school levels.
Then began a series of bleeps and blunders that were at first explained away as teething problems, later as bureaucratic bungling before settling into a rhythm where they took on a semblance of normalcy.
This is why gaffes like exam leakage, loss of answer sheets, delayed results and so on, though serious, did not raise alarm as they were attributed to individual failures on the part of officials who should have known better.
However, reports that Grade 7 examinations that were supposed to start on Monday have been delayed make sad reading and are a greater call for action on the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture that the education system is under threat.
Exams by nature, have a traditional calendar that enables teachers and students to plan instruction, studies and revision alike.
They should never be run on an ad hoc basis.
It goes without saying that exams -- be they Grade 7, "O" or "A" Level - always began in the middle of October and ended in the first week of December.
Timetables that should have been released months ago were only made available yesterday, giving authorities little time to allocate venues and draw up duty rosters for invigilators.
The delay dealt a psychological blow to pupils and parents who have spent the past seven years preparing for this moment.
We feel for the students and the parents who have sacrificed so much to get them this far.
We challenge the relevant ministry to clean up the mess at Zimsec.
Heads must role over this.
Admittedly, the delays may reflect the effects of the illegal sanctions on the education sector, but clearly some of the gaffes are pure human sloth.
The relevant ministry has a responsibility to ensure that the wheels do not come off the education sector.
After all, that is why they are in office.
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Please ignore any comments from Takunya and Comical Mabhiza. Here are some facts (and you cant argue with facts!) why..
1) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza are paid by the ZANU PF to spread propaganda and lies, and to twist the truth in the ZANU PF's favor on the internet.
2) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza are one and the same person.
3) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza both have stated that Mugabe is the most democratic leader in Africa. Seriously!
4) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza both support the use of violence, murder, rape and torture by Mugabe against the people of Zimbabwe.
Probably the most important gift to children is the right to education.Murdering teachers,beating thousands of teachers ,many still in hiding from Zanu thugs,and of course no money to pay them just doesn't help does it?Stupid Herald !!!! Do something decent for a change tell the TRUTH.