SCORES of pupils might fail to write Grade Seven examinations this year after several headmasters battled to meet the Friday registration deadline due to a new system introduced by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec).
Nqobile Bhebhe Chief Reporter
In a last minute bid to beat the deadline on Friday, headmasters from Matabeleland provinces thronged Zimsec’s Bulawayo offices, but many failed to get help as they struggled to use the newly introduced electronic registration system.
Headmasters told Southern Eye on Friday that they were informed about the new system late amid fears that some failed to travel to Bulawayo on time to complete the registration process.
In the past, candidates had to manually fill in details on registration forms.
To compound their woes, the headmasters were required to have their own computers for registration and most of them did not have the gadgets.
“We only heard from other teachers that there is a handwritten circular at some education office in Lupane to the effect that the registration deadline was Friday,” a headmaster from Lupane in Matabeleland North, said.
“We had to use our own funds to travel to Bulawayo on time.
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“Beginning this year registration is done electronically and a bulk of us have no computers while some completely don’t know how to use those gargets.
“On top of that, we were required to have specific software to register which was difficult to master within that short space of time” one headmaster said.
According to the Zimsec website the new system “is meant to be used by Zimbabwe Schools Examination centres to register candidates for Grade 7, ‘O’ Level and ‘A’ Level examinations. This application is used to enter the candidates’ details which are later written on a CD to be sent to the Zimsec regional office.
“Your computer should be installed with the following software programmes, Windows operating system, Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows 7 or Windows 8.”
There was a hive of activity outside the Zimsec offices in Bulawayo on Friday as people with laptops who got wind of the situation hired out their gadgets for as much as $10.
“We had no choice, but to part with $10. The centre (Zimsec) has no facilities to cater for us so some people with laptops cashed in on the situation” added another teacher.
Zimsec officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Several years ago, President Robert Mugabe donated hundreds of computers to rural schools, but most of them are lying idle and some have been stolen.
