Local exams that have been teetering on the brink of infamy for quite a while finally face-planted – nose first – with leaks greater than the North South Water Carrier pipes.
Heads must roll. Heads will roll. Heads must somewhat find a way to clean this mess. The time for lip flapping is so gone. We cannot afford to sit idly by when the integrity of our exams is on the line.
Everyone must be concerned and stand up. Teddy Roosevelt, an ex-US president once said, America must speak softly but carry a big stick. For our country it is time to speak loudly and carry a big stick. But who the heaven leaked the exam? What was their motive? To make students pass? That would be funnier than a tongue-tied presenter.
Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) has suspended exams and has asked students in the meantime to seek psychosocial counselling. It is believed students might get mad when a scheduled exam is postponed. BEC has extensive experience in issues exams (except of course in preventing leaks, so it seems). So when they tell people that there's a correlation between postponed exams and madness, they must be taken seriously. It would be interesting to know whether counselling centres’ business spiked at this time. BEC can use these counselling centres’ records to establish whether their advice has truly been heeded.
At this point, we wait with baited breath to see what will happen to prevent a recurrence of this saga. The minister has promised to get to the bottom of the whole thing but public opinion is that he gets on top of it. Usually when something like this happens, there’s a standard reaction script to it. First, the minister will promise that heads will roll.
That is the job of a minister when the faecal irritant hits the proverbial rotor. The public also expects him to speak like that and spew verbal missiles at suspected transgressors with the menace of a starved lion. This will be followed by a commission of enquiry where a group of sometimes very eminent persons is chosen to hold meetings, interrogate suspects and contribute heavily to the biscuit and sandwich industry. This group will go around the country meeting people who are in the exam value chain and interview them.
These interviewees will deny ever giving anyone a test paper before the scheduled time. At the end of it all, when the country’s biscuit and sandwich supplies hit an all-time low, they will produce a voluminous report in which there are recommendations to suspend, fire or even execute some of the interviewees. However, since this happens on the eve of general elections, the interviewees-cum-suspects will come to no harm. Truth is, if BEC could kick in the mouth the person responsible for most of this mess, BEC itself will end up with no teeth or at best a seriously rejigged dental formula. We don’t want that as there are more exams to worry about. (For comments, feedback and insults email [email protected]) Thulaganyo Jankey is a training consultant who runs his own training consultancy that provides training in BQA- accredited courses. His other services include registering consultancies with BQA and developing training courses. Contact him on 74447920 or email [email protected].
