The Cabinet has approved the Zimbabwe School Examination Council Act [Chapter 28:18] (Amendment Bill, 2024) to address challenges within the education sector, where there has been an increase in examination leakages and fraudulent practices.

The last reported examination leakage occurred in 2022, when five Ordinary Level (O'Level) examination papers were leaked.

During Tuesday's post-Cabinet briefing, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere outlined the bill's objectives.

"The Zimbabwe School Examinations Amendment Bill, 2024, therefore has, inter alia, the following objectives: streamlining Board functions to provide for the deregistration of non-compliant examination centres; strengthening the operational efficiency of the Board; and reviewing penalties for examination malpractices. More critically, it eliminates leakages across all examination centres," said Muswere.

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Torerai Moyo, announced possible measures to curb leakages and impersonation, with penalties such as heavy jail sentences.

"To address this mischief explains why we had to come up with this bill and how we are going to deal decisively with this mischief, according to Section 141 of the Constitution, the general public will decide on the penalties as they make submissions to the bill, but what we are proffering as a solution is imprisonment to the culprits practicing this malpractice.

"In my view, we are likely to come up with penalties for leaking one paper, one might be imprisoned for a period that exceeds 9 years, so that it becomes a deterrent measure to those who may want to practice that criminal act.

"Another malpractice is impersonation, where somebody would masquerade as a bona fide candidate writing an examination for another person. Those caught will also face the same music to go to jail," said Moyo.

Moyo warned that examination centres found wanting will face deregistration.