Schools struggle to re-sit private candidates

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Schools are struggling to assemble private candidates to re-sit ‘O’ Level English papers 1 and 2 and Mathematics papers 1 and 2, which were postponed to today and Thursday after the original papers leaked at Whata Secondary School in Lower Gweru, Midlands province.

Schools are struggling to assemble private candidates to re-sit ‘O’ Level English papers 1 and 2 and Mathematics papers 1 and 2, which were postponed to today and Thursday after the original papers leaked at Whata Secondary School in Lower Gweru, Midlands province. MAMELO NKOMO OWN CORRESPONDENT

A teacher at a private college, who preferred anonymity, told Southern Eye that they were failing to mobilise students so they could come and collect their statements of entry in preparation for the reset paper.

“As it is most of our students who had registered as private candidates at our institution have gone quiet and we are failing to locate them so that we could give them their statements of entry as required by the policy,” he said.EDUCATION

The teacher said they were at a loss as to what they could do to contact the students, as their failure to rewrite would be prejudicial to them.

He said a number of schools and colleges were said to be facing similar problems.

The dates for the re-sits were released through television and print media and some candidates, particularly private candidates, who have limited access to the media, are still in the dark about the developments.

Statements of entry are supposed to be issued to candidates a week before the final day of any paper.

Bulawayo Provincial Education director Dan Moyo professed ignorance over the issue, referring questions to the Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora.

Efforts to contact the minister were fruitless, as his phone went unanswered.

The Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (Zimsec) was forced to order a re-sit of ‘O’ Level Mathematics and English subjects after a leak of papers.

Zimsec has increasingly come under fire for laxity in the handling of examination papers.