The Examination Council of Zambia – ECZ, has denied claims that they had set the examination questions for the outgoing secondary/primary pupils beyond the legal curriculum standard a situation which is alleged to have angered some pupils resorting to the damaging of school properties.
There have been high-level allegations pointing to the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ) of setting exams that go beyond the curriculum standards, which has caused violence among some students.
According to sources, some students have expressed frustration with the level of difficulty of the exams, claiming that they were not adequately prepared for the content a situation they feel may have led to some pupils resorting to damaging school property out of anger.
The situation has however raised concerns among parents and education stakeholders, who are calling for a thorough investigation into the matter. They are also urging authorities to ensure that students are adequately prepared for exams to avoid a repeat of such incidents in the future.
In response to the accusations, the ECZ has exclusively told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, that all exams are set in accordance with the curriculum standards and that they are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are up-to-date and relevant.
In a recent development, a fire alleged to have been lit by the aggrieved ex-pupils, swept through parts of Kamwala Secondary School, burning the head teacher’s office, a school bus, and other important school properties.
ECZ public relations manager Nicholas Nkuwa however said if candidates didn’t prepare for the exams, the Council has no control over that because the duty there is to provide the assessment to candidates which they did. Nkhuwa also emphasized the importance of students preparing adequately for exams and taking responsibility for their own learning.
He therefore condemned the act of burning school properties and urged institutions of learning to ensure that they prepare their learners for ECZ assessments.
“Assessments are prepared to the level of candidates being assessed in this case the grade 12 candidates were given exams that were according to their standard. Secondly, why are they the only ones who have turned out to behave like that in all the schools in Zambia? So if they didn’t prepare for the exams, ECZ has no control over that. Our duty is to provide the assessment, which we did. We condemn that act as well if that is the reason why the pupils behaved like that as it has been alleged, we also condemn that aspect because that is not the way out. I think the way forward is to ensure that all schools just prepare the learners to take the assessments that we prepare as ECZ otherwise for us, we do not set any exams that are outside the curriculum that has been set for this country. Of what benefit is it for us to bring things that are not of the standard of learners,” he said.
“We don’t pick things from anywhere, there’s a teaching and learning curriculum which we follow. So pupils should not just behave otherwise because they have failed to prepare adequately for these assessments and they want to derail our achievements. Basically what we should all be fighting for is to ensure continued Excellency and credibility of our assessments but the question we continue to ask is if that was the allegation behind the burning of school properties, why were they the only ones who behaved in that manner out of all the schools. So the investigations will tell us the motivation of the people who were involved in that arson action,’ remarked Nkuwa.
