The Secretary-general of the Botswana Sector of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU), Tobokani Rari, has slammed the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) over the alleged leaked examination papers. Rari told Mmegi in an interview that the issue of examination paper leaks should not be treated lightly as it has a serious bearing on the credibility of the country's examination system.
He said the perennial issues surrounding examinations in general have become a problem. He also called for BEC to take full responsibility for the mess and tackle it head-on as it also questions their credibility. There has been circulating reports on social media that a Science Double award Paper 3, which was written on October 5, 2023 and English Paper 1 that is scheduled for October 16, 2023 have been leaked. Rari said for a body that should be running credible examinations, BEC should become sophisticated especially in the era of technology and be step ahead of anything that could negatively affect the organisation's work. “You wouldn’t expect such errors to become public. This shows that BEC is failing to cope with the current world of technology in order to protect examinations. Leakages in such an organisation responsible of testing learners to the next level is so embarrassing and BEC should be ashamed of themselves. I am disappointed in them,” he said. He further stated that if it was in other countries, someone would have resigned because clearly someone is not doing their job in terms of taking responsibility.
Rari said these leaks are a clear indication that BEC is a body that lacks credibility because they are failing to do their fundamental work. “This is so embarrassing and the head of BEC should resign. Usually when something like this happens, as the union, we do our own investigations to establish what could have caused the leak and we are yet to do so. Currently we do not have clue on how students got their hands on those papers and how it was leaked but this definitely affects the credibility of BEC and they should be blamed for this mess hence should be accountable. We do not know if it’s a mistake that was made by a BEC employee, or whoever or it was an issue of negligence,” Rari said. He added that the leakage also questions the credibility of past examinations and its results because it was fortunate that this time around the leakage have gone public.
However, BEC has recently assured the public to have taken decisive action to ensure integrity of its examinations stating that investigations into the matter are currently underway. They promised to leave no stone unturned in upholding the credibility of Botswana’ education system. “BEC treats these allegations seriously and as a precautionary measure, the council has resolved to recall the English Paper 1, which is to be rescheduled to a later date. Regarding the Science Double Award Paper 3, the public will be informed of the final decision,” reads the statement. Furthermore, the statement added that whilst the investigations are continuing, the council appeals to the public to remain calm and candidates are urged to remain focused on their examinations and field their best performance. “BEC is doing all within its power to protect the best interest of the candidates while safeguarding the integrity and credibility of its qualifications,” reads the statement.
