CID, CIO Officers Identified A School In Mat' South As Source Of ZIMSEC Exam Leakages
The massive leakage of Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) examination papers in 2022 was traced to a school in Matabeleland South Province, a senior government official has said.
The ZIMSEC security worked with the Commercial Crime Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and established that Thokozane Secondary School was the source of public examination leakages.
In a Ministerial statement on the management of the leakages of some Ordinary Level examination question papers presented in the National Assembly last Wednesday, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Evelyn Ndlovu, said:
The ZIMSEC security worked with the Commercial Crime Division of the CID and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to trace the source of the leakage after the leakage was reported on 16 October from the Zvishavane area.
The team found out that the question papers in three subjects leaked from Thokozane Secondary School in Matabeleland South Province and circulated on WhatsApp and some social media platforms.
The question papers were peddled by some ordinary citizens and some Advanced level candidates charging those who needed the question papers.
Some of the candidates and school officials and ordinary citizens who posted question papers on WhatsApp and those that bought them were arrested and appeared in court. Added Ndlovu:
The sentences they got, however, were either community service or fines.
Mr. Kudakwashe Betserayi who fraudulently registered an Econet sim card in Zimsec’s name and sold question papers was arrested in Masvingo and is still on remand.
The head and the deputy head of Thokozane Secondary School are still in custody in remand in Filabusi.
Ndlovu revealed that the head and deputy head of Thokozane Secondary School who had the keys to where the question papers were alleged to have broken the keys which belong to the monitor and stole the examination papers.
The duo allegedly sold the papers to an attendant at a pharmacy in Zvishavane.
The pharmacy attendant is alleged to have sold the question papers on social media platforms. Said Ndlovu:
Ordinary level examinations had 278 760 candidates but only 4 961 were involved in examination malpractice that included either pre-access to examination question papers, collusion or other as found and reported by the investigators, school authorities or concerned stakeholders.
This represents 1.78 percent of the candidature. Arrests were made of candidates who received and sent papers on WhatsApp.
School officials who were implicated as well and ordinary citizens were also arrested.
