A ZIMBABWE Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) Ordinary Level Mathematics paper written yesterday leaked a day before learners sat for the examination, NewsDay can reveal.
A whistleblower learning at Murombedzi High School told NewsDay that Mathematics Paper 1, coded 4004/1 was leaked on WhatsApp on Monday evening in PDF format.
NewsDay is in possession of the paper.
Zimsec spokesperson Nick Dlamini confirmed the leak, adding that investigations were underway.
“The extent of the leak is yet to be ascertained, after which the relevant authorities will make an informed decision of the administration of this paper,” Dhlamini said.
“Zimsec, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the police are investigating the leak and have already identified some candidates who had pre-access to the question paper and are currently tracking down the source where the papers originated.
“We urge the stakeholders of examinations to guard jealously the integrity of our examinations. Police forensic laboratory is on high alert to reveal anyone who is sending or receiving question papers. Therefore, candidates are warned to refrain from participating in this malpractice so as to avoid cancellation of results due to collusion.”
Incidents of final year examination papers leaking are not new.
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In December 2020, a Zimsec clerk was dragged to court on charges of stealing a copy of the October-November Economics Paper 3 from the printing press and selling it.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said Zimsec was to blame for the latest leak.
“Zimsec is once again found wanting, its system is porous and the credibility of national examinations is being eroded. What is apparent is that papers are not leaking in schools, but at national level,” Masaraure said.
“We are calling for an emergency all-stakeholders meeting to discuss this crisis. We have a serious crisis of ethics which is being fuelled by underpayment. Civil servants must be well paid to protect the integrity of the civil service.”
Learners started writing Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations on September 29.
Government localised public school examinations in the late 1990s after scrapping the Cambridge examination system, but frequent leaks continue to dent the examination body’s credibility.
Government once said it intended to install geographic positioning systems (GPS) software on boxes containing examination papers to curb examination paper leaks.
