Disbelief as exam results of 9 schools invalidated

Dar/Mwanza. Parents of Standard Seven pupils, who had their examination results cancelled, were in shock on Tuesday September 02 as they pondered their children’s future.

The National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta) announced the cancellation of the results for at least nine primary schools due to cheating.

The affected primary schools are all primary schools within the Chemba Municipal Council in Dodoma, Alliance, New Alliance and Kisiwani primary schools (Mwanza), Hazina, New Hazina International primary schools, Aniny Nndumi and Fountain of Joy (Dar es Salaam).

“My child was always performing well and I expected him to pass his final exams here at Hazina Primary School. We are worried about his education future because she is far away now,” said a parent who preferred anonymity.

She noted, however, that the school’s head teacher had asked her to be patient as preparation for resitting the examinations were underway.

In Mwanza, one of the parents, Mr Albert Sengo, whose son was studying at Alliance, said Necta’s decision was bad news for them.

“I was shocked when I heard that my son’s results were cancelled. However, Necta has the mandate to take such decisions and our schools should stop cheating,” he said.

Necta executive secretary Charles Msonde said in Dar es Salaam that education officers and some teachers at the said schools were involved in leaking the examinations.

“We have found without doubt that some of the teachers including head teachers, education officers and some of the supervisors had broken the oaths they had taken before the examinations commenced,” he said. Dr Msonde warned that stern measures would be meted out against all the suspects after completion of investigation.

“We are tracking the chain of examination transfer to find out the source of the leakage,” he said, adding that Necta had asked security agencies to immediately hold the culprits in order to help in investigations.

The Citizen visited Hazina International School, but was unable to get reaction from the school management. “We are not in a position to comment on anything now and the head teacher is not around,” said one of the employees.

Similarly, Mwanza city mayor John Bwire, who also owns Alliance schools, was attending a Tanzania Premier League match between his Alliance FC and Ndanda FC by the time the news broke.

“Don’t force me to talk right now. I am busy with other issues. I am watching a football match at Nyamagana,” said Mr Bwire.

The Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Mr Selemani Jafo, said in Dodoma yesterday that all the culprits will be dealt with accordingly.

“All who were involved in examination cheating will be dealt with according to the law. We had already started investigation to ensure that we get all of them,” he said.

The affected pupils will re-sit the examinations on October 8 and 9.