The newly appointed Examinations Council of Zambia – ECZ Board Chairperson Prof Frank Tailoka has expressed confidence that his he and his other new board members will put in place measures to end examination leakages which have for a long time been an obstacle in the country’s education system.
Prof Tailoka told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview that the new board will put up measure to track down the sources of leakages and that any individual found wanting will face the law.
He has since asked Zambians to give to give him a period of one year to see what the new board is capable of delivering saying the current happenings at ECZ are not of the new leadership but that they will collaborate with other stakeholders to ensure there is efficiency in the examination system.
“There was a time we did not have leakages in Zambia, so we will find out where these things came from and will immediately have to find those in fore front of these activities,” he told ZBT.
He also noted the need for the introduction of A-levels in secondary schools to lessen on time student spend in universities and colleges and that the new board will consider the need to change the structure of how examinations are prepared and set, saying it is another way which contributes to the formation of leakages.
Prof Tailoka further stated that his board is aware of some other fraudulent activities happening in the education sector such as forgery of statements of results, adding that the board working with the management will look at introducing other security features on statement of results as a measure to curb such illicit behaviors.
Analysts have observed that Examination leakages in Zambia are not investigated to a logical conclusion. If or when students are caught in these malpractices, there has been limited tracking back to find the real culprits behind the leakages, hence these vices continue since only the users are punished.
The lawmakers in parliament have also not moved to introduce stiffer punishment, which can act as a deterrent. As it stands today, it’s not even clear what the punishment for exam cheating is. The ranking of Zambian education is also something which is not actively tracked, hence having an education system which is churning out graduates who are incapable of employment creation, lack entrepreneurship skills or ability to deeply analyze and solve their personal and community problems.
