Relief as over 2000 PSLE candidates to resit exams
What you need to know:
- Necta invalidated results of 2,194 pupils after learning of cheating, a move that also lead to the suspension several centres
Dar es Salaam. Students, parents, and other education stakeholders cheered the National Examinations Council of Tanzania’s (Necta) announcement that more than 2,000 students whose examination results were invalidated will be permitted to repeat.
On October 5 and 6, this year’s Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) were held, involving more than 1.38 million candidates across the country, and the results were announced on December 1, 2022.
During the results announcement, Necta invalidated all the results of 2,194 candidates due to examination malpractices, a number that accounted for 0.16 percent of the 1,350,881 candidates who sat for this year’s PSLE.
In the same scenario, the council also suspended 24 examination centres, equivalent to 0.13 percent of the 17,935 exam centres/schools that were proven to have planned and facilitated cheating during this year’s exams.
Parents who spoke to The Citizen expressed concern about the cancellation, with many wondering what would happen to their children, despite the fact that they could take exams as private candidates next year.
Necta’s announcement made during a press conference yesterday to allow the pupils to repeat the exams seems to have won the hearts of many concerned groups, including the parents who were earlier hurt.
Mr Juma Abdul, 44, a resident of Tanga Region whose son was among those whose results were deleted, said, as a parent, that God has answered his prayers about the fate of his son.
“I believe that teachers or administrators at testing centers are the ones who sabotage our children’s results.” “They are the ones who gave them the answers if there was any cheating, and that is why I have been disappointed and very sorry to my son, who was punished for other people’s mistakes,” he said.
“But now I have every reason to thank Necta for hearing our cry. I believe my son will pass and proceed to join his Form One colleagues next year,” he said with great joy and confidence.
For his part, Dr Thomas Jabir, who is a parent but also an expert in education issues, said that many pupils were still of a tender age and were easily manipulated.
He noted that Necta’s move to allow them to retake the exams was commendable.
“It is true that exam theft should be reprimanded, but school owners, exam administrators, and all those involved in ensuring that children take exams safely are the ones who should be held accountable, not the children,” he said.
He said that parents and guardians should make sure that they always teach their children to be honest when they see that they are in danger of breaking the law, saying that it was the basis for ending the problem of exam theft in the country.
“Schools that want fame at the expense of our children must be looked at with a strong eye. We don’t want businesses to destroy services for students, and the government must manage this; otherwise, we will have scholars with certificates but unable to deliver,” he said.
Yesterday, Necta responded positively to what it said was a result of complaints received from various stakeholders, including the parents and guardians of candidates whose results were annulled.
Addressing the media, Necta’s acting executive secretary, Mr Athumani Amasi, said, “Stakeholders have complained that the fraud that took place in the exams was planned and implemented by the management of the respective schools, teachers, and administrators of the exams who provided the candidates with answers.”
He also noted that the stakeholders also complained that, considering the age of the children whose results were cancelled, they could not reject the answers given by the teachers or examination administrators.
“The council has thoroughly considered stakeholders’ complaints and found that they are fundamental, so the council has decided to give the opportunity to the 2,194 candidates whose results were cancelled to repeat exams early instead of waiting until next year,” he said.
He said that for the candidates whose schools were closed as exam centres, they will take the exams at the neighbouring centres and for those whose centres were not closed, they will do it at their respective schools.
The repeat exams will be held on December 21 and 22, 2022.
