THE Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA), the largest teachers’ body in the country, says the 2020 ZIMSEC examinations have started off in chaos as several teachers failed to travel to centres due to incapacitation, while the strike by nurses has also resulted in teachers being ill prepared to handle cases of the coronavirus as there has not been adequate training.
Invigilators were supposed to receive training from medical teams across the country on handling cases of coronavirus ahead of the exams which kick off today.
ZIMTA chief executive Dr Sifiso Ndlovu, said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education had moved to provide adequate Covid-19 prevention measures following a Court Order, but it was already too late.
Dr Ndlovu said despite the last-minute efforts to put the house in order, he believes the examination process will be chaotic.
“There was a court order that compelled the ministry to ensure that there were enough PPEs to protect invigilators and candidates by June 26.
“That is why we saw Government last week frantically trying to get the centres ready. But logistically there were a lot of things that were not done right,” said Dr Ndlovu.
“By today at 1pm I know that some invigilators who were going as far as Siyamagoza Secondary School in Lupane had not left.
“They were told that a Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) bus will pick them up but they were stuck at Renkini and did not have the foreign currency needed to take them to the schools.
“I foresee some delays in some of the examinations as invigilators will not reach centres on time.”
He said some of the invigilators have not received training on how to conduct themselves during the examinations as nurses were on strike.
