The rot in the examinations system
Pini Bothoko | Monday October 23, 2023 06:00
The exams leak scandal Few days ago, information circulated on social media that a Science Double award Paper 3, which was written on October 5, 2023 and English paper 1 that was scheduled for October 16, 2023, had been leaked.
In total, it was then reported that five Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations papers had been leaked. Last Friday the Minister of Education and Skills Development (MESD), Douglas Letsholathebe postponed BGCSE examinations for a period of two weeks to allow the BEC to conduct further investigations over the leaked examinations papers.
The BGCSE examinations will now resume on October 30, 2023 and as it stands the affected papers in the leak scandal are Science Double Award Paper 3, Mathematics Paper 2 and English Paper 1 that was scheduled to be sat on October 16, 2023.
However, leaking examination papers before sitting is not a new thing. Back in 2010 a Junior Certificate (JC) English Paper One was cancelled after it was revealed that a certain junior school had written the paper a week before. A week later another Cambridge English paper was cancelled after it was leaked to a private centre in Mahalapye.
Still in 2010, a senior teacher at Maun Secondary School was arrested and charged with theft following the disappearance of examinations papers that were allegedly found in his possession during a police search. Besides examination leaks, the education system has been embroiled in controversies that jeopardise the credibility of the examinations such as coursework supervision and assessment, disagreements over invigilation of final examinations and continuous disputes during the marking of final examinations.
This did not only raise credibility and professional issues, but dented the quality and standard of national examinations in Botswana. Last year without consulting its stakeholders, BEC was accused of changing the grading criterion for practical subjects by not using marks for the practical components for those subjects.
What the ministry says The education minister, Letsholathebe, last week revealed that they engaged law enforcement agencies who were to investigate the exam leak. He told the media that law enforcement agencies had since identified the person suspected to have leaked the papers. He disclosed that the BEC Act states that if found guilty, the culprit could be charged a fine of between P100, 000 to P500, 000 or 10 years imprisonment or both. Letsholathebe also said they could have handled the matter internally but since they value the integrity of the institution and the education system, they had to update the public and students about the matter and announce the postponement of examinations with a period of 14 days.
BGCSE examinations will resume on October 30, 2023; to allow for measures to further preserve the integrity of the examination to be implemented. The minister further assured that in this period, BEC will make arrangements for resumption of BGCSE examinations urging teachers to continue guiding learners in the coming weeks and ensure they don’t lose focus.
BEC fight with teachers, unions over coursework For years BEC has been involved in an unending feud with the Botswana Sector of Educators Trade Unions (BOSETU) and Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) over pay rates for teachers marking examinations. The rates were negotiated yearly between the two parties - a culture that has led to disagreements and in extreme instances, teachers withholding course work marks due to lack of consent of payment rates.
Towards the end of every year, it is common for the unions and BEC to fail to reach an agreement over amongst other issues invigilation and marking of final examinations. In the past on numerous occasions teachers had to down tools and withhold coursework marks, not to moderate, invigilate and at times fail to turn up for external examinations up until their concerns were addressed.
However, teachers’ unions fought until the education ministry considered a long-term solution to the issue of remuneration of teachers who are engaged in invigilation and course work activities. Early this year, there were issues surrounding the marking of BGCSE examinations after BEC announced the amendment of the results that consequently affected school positions. Few months ago, BOSETU took government to court for subjecting Design and Technology teachers to disciplinary action over refusal to do coursework invigilation assessment and supervision.
BOSETU’s view on the matter Botswana Sector of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) has called for stern action against BEC’s continuous scandalous and poor management of national final examinations following the exam leak. BOSETU’ secretary-general, Tobokani Rari said the recent and ongoing leakages scandal follows many other acts of mismanaging the national examinations, which the teachers’ union has previously cautioned on. He said the public would be aware that every year, during examinations period, the national examination process gets embroiled in controversies that jeopardise the credibility of the examinations.
“These include blatant refusal to engage with unions by BEC resulting in skirmishes over coursework supervision and assessment, disagreements over invigilation of final examinations and continuous disputes during the marking of final examinations.” Rari said while the education system is already ailing and limping, BOSETU is disappointed that BEC’s poor management is heavily adding to its total collapse.
Rari further alleged that this trend of leakages of final examination papers and the unprofessional conduct of examinations has become a trademark of BEC and does not only raise credibility and professional issues, but dents the quality and standard of national examinations in Botswana.
He said it must be noted that last year, the examining body yet again single handily, without consulting the stakeholders, being parents, educators and students, decided to change the grading criterion for practical subjects by not using marks for the practical components for those subjects. “This does not only disadvantage the innocent students, but has the potential to totally destroy their future prospects.
BEC has seriously dented the once high standards and reputation of Botswana education and examinations as the scandals are now endless, perennial and annual,” Rari said.
BOSETU further warned that if the management of BEC and its Board cannot be reigned on, the country’s examinations integrity would degenerate to a complete collapse. The union called for an end to this examination circus by challenging the education ministry to set up an independent inquiry into these annual disturbing bad practices like examination leakages, poor examination setting standards, controversial invigilation, course work assessment, marking and grading of final examinations.
“We call for BEC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to immediately resign as an overall person whom the buck stops with. All self-respecting executives who believe in accountability and taking responsibility for their organisations' actions or inactions would resign when the organisation they lead is faced with such a huge magnitude of scandalous ineptitude,” he said.
Rari stated that it is the first time in the country’s history that such an embarrassing incident of examination leakages of such an intense magnitude has happened hence the union’s view that it will only be proper for the CEO to resign while investigations are ongoing. “BEC CEO has presided over an institution that has continuously been riddled with controversies that have gone unabated under his watch, and such controversies, no doubt, have dented the institution's credibility,” Rari said.
BTU’s response on the matter For their part, the Botswana Teachers’ Union (BTU) shared the same sentiments with BOSETU. Officials at the union said they were deeply concerned and distressed by the cases of examinations malpractice, where leakages of some subjects’ papers were reported.
BTU’ publicity secretary, Innocent Puso said whenever there is examination irregularity or malpractice, the validity and resulting outcome are questionable and discredit the education landscape nationally.
He said it should be known that engaging in examination malpractice erodes students' sense of academic integrity and ethical conduct, which fosters a culture of dishonesty and undermines the principles of fairness and meritocracy in education. “Malpractice introduces disparities into the examination system, which at times is so high that it seriously undermines the credibility of the examination system, something that we do not wish to happen in our education system. However, we commend and applaud the individual(s) who quickly detected and reported this malpractice before it could spread widely across the country,” Puso said. He added that failure for the malpractice to be detected could have given some candidates an unfair advantage over others and dented the credibility of the outcomes. He further stated that even though they commend the Minister for promptly responding to prevent the situation from worsening, they believe that, in an endeavour to avert similar incidents from happening in the future, a strategic direction is indispensable to enhance the monitoring of the examination ecosystem. “We know the decision will have consequences for the students who had prepared for this examination for a chapter of life in their academic pursuits. We call upon parents and teachers to work together to ensure that anxiety does not take its toll on students while waiting for the resumption of the examination in two weeks.
On the other hand, to find the root cause of this demonic act by a selfish and self-seeking individual(s), the Ministry should not leave any stone unturned in looking for the answers,” he said. Puso said even though the Minister, during a press conference on the matter, allayed fears that the BEC systems are intact, as an union they believe everyone involved in handling examinations is a suspect.
“This is a severe national matter which fits the status equivalent to national security, everyone from examination authorities, printers, proofreaders, messengers, and moderators to school administrators should assist in finding the culprits.
We advocate for stringent punitive measures on those who would be found behind in tarnishing our national examinations' credibility, potentially rendering them useless locally and globally,” Puso said. BOFEPUSU’s take The Botswana Federation of Public, Private & Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) shared the same sentiments with BOSETU calling for the immediate suspension of the BEC CEO.
In a media statement, BOFEPUSU’ publicity secretary, Oreeditse Nyatso called for an independent commission of inquiry into the operations of BEC to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the leaking of examinations papers and to hold those responsible accountable. “This heinous act undermines the integrity of the education system and unfairly affects the future of countless students who work tirelessly to excel in their studies. We are deeply concerned about the impact of this breach on the credibility and fairness of the BGCSE examinations, and as such we urge immediate action to address this critical issue,” Nyatso said. He said the leakage of such sensitive and vital assessment is an affront to the principles of fairness and meritocracy that underpin our education system.
Nyatso stated that BEC has regrettably become an organisation that appears detached from the realities and needs of the country’ education system. BCP response into this matter For their part, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) called for the resignation of the education Minister for lack of political will to remedy the situation that has been festering for some time now.
The party vehemently condemned the examination paper leaks stating that this disgraceful revelation is a clear reflection of the sheer incompetence and negligence exhibited by the education ministry and BEC. BCP publicity and information secretary, Mpho Pheko said the BCP stands unwavering in its commitment to restoring the integrity of education in Botswana as they believe in the principles of social democracy, where the education and future of our citizens are held in the highest regard.
“This is not an isolated incident, but an alarming symptom of the larger problems plaguing Botswana’s education system. To demonstrate remorse, personal accountability and commitment to bringing back the integrity of the system the Minister of education must pack his brief case and tender his resignation,” she said. Furthermore, Pheko said there should be an open inquest on the matter, not just ordinary investigations as supposedly undertaken by the authorities. She said the public must be invited to make submissions at an open arrangement for the purpose of transparency and commitment to finding solutions.
“Accountability must be upheld, and those responsible for this unforgivable lapse must face the consequences. The recent BGCSE leaks are a stark reminder of the urgency to reform our education system.
As we prepare for the 2024 general elections, BCP pledges to revamp the examination system, incorporating state-of-the-art security measures to ensure the absolute integrity of our examinations,” she said. BCP further pledged to foster an educational environment that encourages critical thinking, innovation, and ensures equal access to high quality education for all Batswana.
“We pledge to also prioritise open dialogue and collaboration to resolve issues within the education sector, especially addressing the never ending impasse between teachers, BEC and the government. We firmly believe that such matters can be resolved amicably and constructively, without resorting to lengthy legal battles,” Pheko added.