Fri, 08 Dec 2017 09:24:36 +0000
By Kelvin Siabana
THE National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) is concerned that the education system in the country is characterised by exam malpractices both at secondary and Tertiary level. NAQEZ executive director Mr Aaron Chansa said the issue of exam malpractices was real in Zambia and could be attributed to laziness by some pupils or tertiary students who want to pass exams the through cheating.
Mr Chansa said exam leakages at different levels in the country were compromising the standards of education. He said the trend of trusting in leakages adopted by some lazy pupils in some secondary schools and students in tertiary institutions was sending wrong signals about the country’s education system to the outside world. Mr Chansa said according to the educational statics of the countries in the Southern African region Zambia topped the list in terms of exam leakages.
Mr Chansa said back in the days of first republic, issues of leakages were unheard of unlike today when the matter had become a difficult cancer to cure. The Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ) and other examining bodies in the country should tighten their security to ensure that the exam papers at any level are not leaked into hands of some crooked pupils or students in order to protect the integrity of the education standards in the country,” said Mr Chansa.
Mr Chansa said passing an exam either at Secondary or tertiary level, should be earned on merit not by way of exam leakages because the scourge would forever dent the image of the education system. The executive director appealed to relevant authorities to ensure that whoever was caught with leaked exam was punished severely to deter others from committing similar offences.
Mr Chansa said once caught pupils or students involved in exam leakages should be suspended from education activities in the country for five years unlike the current two years sanction on them.
