PARENTS are up in arms with government over its recent decision to suspend Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) June “O” and “A” Level examinations.
Most parents interviewed by NewsDay yesterday said they had
spent a lot of money on extra lessons, only to be told that the examinations
had been suspended.
Government last week announced that it had suspended the
June Zimsec examinations that normally cater for supplementary examinations,
citing COVID-19 delays in writing and marking of the November/December
examinations, which negatively impacted the timing and the cycle of public
examinations.
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa last week said the
suspension of the June 2021 examinations would allow teachers and learners to
focus on November examinations.
But parents said their children could not spend another
full year preparing for examinations as they would have to fork out more money
for extra lessons.
National Association of School Development Associations
Committee chairperson Max Mkandla described government’s decision as irrational
and unilateral.
“The government should put its house in order. The school
calendar should have been clear at the beginning and this was supposed to be
discussed in Parliament. How can we
allow all the candidates to be grouped together in November, neglecting the mid-year
national examinations as usual?’’ Mkandla said.
He said the nation should work towards raising education
standards, not to destroy them. Bulawayo City Council health, housing and
education committee chairperson Sinikiwe Mutanda said most of the parents were
against the suspension of the June examinations.
“The problem is that people complain while seated and they
do not know which offices to approach when faced with such setbacks. A lot of
people from different groups are against the idea; the government should listen
to people’s plea. This is something that we had before preparing for these
examinations and students will lose knowledge by staying too long without
writing,’’ Mutanda said.
But Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive officer Sifiso
Ndlovu welcomed government’s decision to suspend the examinations, saying it
gave learners ample time to prepare for examinations in November. Newsday
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