Necta warns against exam cheating as Form Six Exams starts

Dar es Salaam. The National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta) yesterday issued a warning to invigilators, head masters, parents, school owners and candidates against cheating as the Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations (ACSEE) kicks off today across the country.

The Necta executive secretary, Dr Charles Msonde, told media in Dar es Salaam that those discovered to have engaged in cheating will face severe measures, including nullification of results.

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“The council will not hesitate to take any action against anyone found to be involved in or causing exam fraud to be carried out in accordance with our country’s laws and regulations on public service,” Dr Msonde warned, as he urged stakeholders to report all incidents to relevant agencies.

Some 95,955 registered candidates in 841 secondary schools and 250 private examination centres have started the exam, which is expected to be completed after three weeks from today (9- 27, May), as per Necta’s schedule.

From the total number of candidates, 85,531 are from public schools and 10,424 are private candidates, according to Dr Msonde.

“Of those (85, 531), 47,859 are boys (55.96 percent) and 37,672 are girls (44.04 percent),” said Dr Msonde, adding, “There are also 151 candidates with special needs and 136 of them are visually impaired and 15 are blind.”

Of the 10,424 registered private candidates, 6,546 are boys (62.80 percent) and girls are 3,878 (37.20 percent) and one blind contestant.

Also, according to Necta, 9,670 candidates from 70 colleges will be writing their final examinations for the teaching course at diploma and certificate levels. Of the number, 4,560 are at diploma level and 5,110 certificate level.

Necta’s chief further cautioned that the council will not hesitate to cancel any examination centre if it is satisfied that its presence endangers the security of national examinations.

“The council urges all school owners to recognise that schools are currently specialized examination centres and therefore should not in any way interfere with the responsibilities of examination administrators throughout the course of the examinations,” he warned.

For his part, an education consultant Dr Thomas Jabir noted that in recent years fraud during exams has been on the decline after the apparent consequences for those who did so.

“I ask the council to continue to hold accountable all those who are used to destroying the future of students by making them cheat or even disturbing them during these exams,” he said.

told The Citizen by phone.