A TWO-TIER, class-based education system has taken root in Zimbabwe as many private schools ditch the local examinations overseen by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) in favour of those administered by the United Kingdom-based University of Cambridge.
Most schools that fall under the Association of Trust Schools (ATS) do not offer ZIMSEC Examinations and syllabuses.
These schools, known as ‘Trust Schools’, pride themselves on offering exclusively University of Cambridge-administered examinations and syllabuses.
Under the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), some Trust schools offer International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) which is classified into three; IGCSE Ordinary Level, IGCSE Advanced Subsidiary and IGCSE Advanced Level examinations.
While some offer General Certificate of Education (GCE) which is also classified into three GCE Ordinary Level, GCE AS Level and GCE A Level.
The ATS comprise an elite league of schools, among them Arundel, Chisipite Senior, Christian Brothers’ College, Dominican Convent (Bulawayo), Eaglesvale High, Girls College, Hellenic Academy, Hillcrest College, Masiyephambili College, Midlands Christian College, Peterhouse Boys, Peterhouse Girls, Petra High School, St George’s College, St John’s College, South Eastern College, Watershed College, Westridge High, Falcon College, Gateway High School, Goldridge College, Kyle College and Lomagundi College.
In Zimbabwe, there are 66 schools under the ATS, 24 at secondary level and 42 at primary level with over 23 000 students enrolled in 2015.
Primary level is not spared as some schools such as Ruzawi School adopted the Cambridge International Primary syllabus three years ago.
The ‘appetite’ for Cambridge examinations and syllabus has surged with some Government and Mission schools following suit.
Most of these schools are running parallel syllabuses and examinations of ZIMSEC and Cambridge.
Such is the case at Bernard Mizeki College (BMC) in Marondera.
BMC introduced Cambridge examinations this year after succumbing to pressure from parents who wanted their children to study and write such examinations.
A visit to the school by The Patriot revealed that most students are this year writing Cambridge examinations and discarding ZIMSEC exams.
Those writing ZIMSEC are only doing so in the Shona subject as Cambridge only offers Shona for beginners.
In an interview with The Patriot, BMC headmaster Peter Nheweyembwa said the school spent over US$40 000 acquiring Cambridge teaching material and text books.
“The decision to have Cambridge exams was made by parents,” said Nheweyembwa.
“Parents used to take their children to write Cambridge exams in Harare and pupils would go away for about three weeks, thereby disrupting lessons, especially in June.
“So we had to introduce Cambridge exams here so that they can write from here without any disruptions.”
Nheweyembwa said most students, however, chose to write Cambridge this year because it is preferred by outside universities.
In teaching, Nheweyembewa said they were not experiencing any challenges as they teach both ZIMSEC and Cambridge syllabi.
Since only a few are writing ZIMSEC, they are offered extra-lessons on the ZIMSEC syllabus, while the mainstream syllabus is that of Cambridge.
“We do not see anything wrong in offering both,” said Nheweyembwa.
“We are just giving our pupils many options and they choose what they want.”
Established in 1996, ZIMSEC has the mandate of producing syllabuses and conferring qualifications in Grade Seven, Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations.
The journey to the full localisation of examinations began with a Cabinet decision in 1983 which led to the first local ‘O’-Level examination being written in 1991.
Since early 1991 and until April 2002, GCE ‘O’-Level examinations were set and marked in Zimbabwe by ZIMSEC in conjunction with the University of Cambridge International Examination GCE system.
The first independent ZIMSEC examinations were written in November 2002.
ZIMSEC is an internationally-accredited examinations board with syllabuses approved by the National Academic Recognition and Information Centre in the UK and found to be equivalent to the General Certificate of Education Standard offered in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States and other English-speaking countries.
However, most private schools question ZIMSEC’s credibility. They raise issues of perennial leakages of examination papers and that ZIMSEC is no longer accepted in overseas universities.
To curb examination leakages, which of late have discredited the local examination body, ZIMSEC recently introduced ‘seals’ on examination papers.
Speaking to The Patriot, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora said all schools in the country must provide students with examination guidelines which allows them to participate in the ZIMSEC.
He said measures were already in place to curb any leakages.
“They (Trust Schools) may then opt to include others, but the ZIMSEC exams are critical and remember that our examinations are internationally credible,” said Dr Dokora.
“We completed the June examinations without a single incident and we intend to take control of the printing works l To Page 6
l From Page 2
and reposition ZIMSEC headquarters at Norton so that we have total control and avoid third parties as this gives leeway to the leakages and corruption.”
According to the ZIMSEC official website, ZIMSEC certificates are accepted in Africa and beyond and demand for certified ‘O’ and ‘A’-Level certificates is very high in all English-speaking countries.
On average, ZIMSEC gives some 20 results confirmation statements every week to various institutions in the country and beyond our borders.
The website also notes that Zimbabwe is ranked number four on the list of countries with the most preferred secondary school-leaving candidates for enrolment into American universities.
One parent, Bester Musara, who registered his son for the ZIMSEC November 2016 examination said ZIMSEC examinations remained credible as evidenced by the acceptance of Zimbabwean students into tertiary institutions in South Africa and many other countries where they do very well.
“Of course, we have to grapple with the challenges of leakages which are in the public domain, but that does not mean that they never happen with the Cambridge examinations,” he said.
“There is nothing wrong with the quality of ZIMSEC examinations and it is not true that ZIMSEC is inferior.
“Actually, it may even be better than Cambridge.
“I can even give you an example of a candidate who went on to get ‘As’ in the Cambridge papers after having initially got ‘Ds’ in the ZIMSEC examinations.”
However, another parent who refused to be named for fear of victimisation as he is a School Development Association (SDA) chair at one of the private schools in Bulawayo offering Cambridge exclusively said ZIMSEC is equally good.
“Bayasihlupha besithi abantwana bethu babhale iCambridge, kodwa ZIMSEC is equally good,” he said. (They keep bothering us, telling us that our Children should write Cambridge, but ZIMSEC is equally good.)
“We know of many Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who wrote ZIMSEC and are sought after by international companies and governments.
“ZIMSEC iphakulula icream. (ZIMSEC produces the best).
“In fact, In terms of good education, you cannot compare ZIMSEC and Cambridge.
“Sonke siyakwazi ukuthi iZIMSEC is good (We all know ZIMSEC is good).”
Another parent said the two-tier classroom-based education had created two separate systems for the rich and for the poor, only serving to entrench social disparities.
“Some of us cannot afford Cambridge, but my child’s education is now considered inferior,” said Maidei Munatsi.
“We are told ZIMSEC hayichabetseri (is useless).”
To sit for ZIMSEC examinations, ‘O’-Level students fork out US$17 per subject, while US$26 is paid for ‘A’-Level.
To register for one ‘O’-Level Cambridge subject, according to the British Council, between US$84 and US$91 is required, while US$500 is required for three ‘A’-Level subjects.
This expensive education, though said to be of quality, is irrelevant to Zimbabwean children.
Its syllabi perpetuates British culture and traditions.
Perusing through the Cambridge GCE ‘O’-Level History syllabus, this writer noted of the six sections in the syllabus, four are on European and American history, one section on Africa and Middle-East and the other on Asia.
On Africa, Zimbabwe is only a case study in the topic of Struggle for Independence.
The African part only focuses on struggle for independence with case studies of Zimbabwe, Congo, Ghana and Kenya, formation of the Organisation of African Unity and lastly South Africa’s Apartheid.
This is very shallow compared to the ZIMSEC History syllabus which starts from the Stone to Iron-Age periods, Bantu migration, the Shona, Ndebele and Zulu states, slavery, colonisation, the struggle for independence up to the Land Reform Programme of 2000.
In the new curriculum, the ZIMSEC syllabus also encompasses the family and heritage studies from Early Childhood Development (ECD).
The same applies to English ‘A’Level literature syllabus from 2014 to 2017. ZIMSEC focuses more on African writers, especially local writers, while the Cambridge syllabus only has one African writer in their syllabus.
ZIMSEC literature includes local writers such as Thomas Bvuma’s Every Stone That Turns, Irene Staunton’s Writing Still (short stories), Mashingaidze Gomo’s A Fine Madness and Charles Mungoshi’s Walking Still.
It also includes African writers such as P’Bitek Okot’s Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol, Ba Miriama’s Scarlet Song, Ngugi WaThiongo’s Secret Lives and Beti’s Mission of Kala.
The syllabus covers a bit of European literature with writers such as William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure as well as King Lear and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest.
On the contrary, Cambridge English Literature syllabus (0486) has more of European literature than African literature.
The set books include Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, William Shakespeare’s Henry V, Arthur Miler’s A View from the Bridge, William Cather’s My Antonia and Kate Grenville’s The secret liver.
The only African literature is Chinua Achebe’s No longer at Ease.
In Geography, Cambridge does not teach our children geographical features like Lake Kariba, Nyangani and Chimanimani Mountains, Berma Valleys in Manicaland but rather focuses on River Thames, Ben Nevis Mountain and the five great lakes of Canada.
In addition, Cambridge only offers Shona for beginners, hence most students at Trust Schools only study Shona in Form One and Two.
At the end of their IGCSE ‘O’-Level, students are not examined on local languages.
Therefore the end-product of Cambridge is not well-equipped on the country’s history and local languages.
The end-product suffers an identity crisis, distanced from culture and heritage as Cambridge perpetuates mental colonisation.
At the end of the day are we then, as a country, not creating little Britons disguised as Zimbabweans?