EXAMS COUNCIL 2017 FORM V RESULTS SHOCKER

MBABANE – There is compelling evidence to suggest that the 2017 Form V final examination results are not a true reflection of the pupils’ performance.

As a result, there is a strong possibility that universities and colleges could have enrolled undeserving students while the deserving ones’ future is in limbo.
Pupils who sat for the Form V final examinations in 2017 were unknowingly given ‘false’ grades for subjects whose scripts were never marked because they got lost under mysterious circumstances.

The pass rate for 2017 stood at 87.47 per cent, which was a decrease of 0.26 per cent from that of the preceding year.
The Times SUNDAY has learnt that scripts of at least 10 subjects from different schools strangely disappeared before they could be marked.
Arguably, most of the affected schools are not aware of what happened.

only 2 schools aware

Only two of the schools - Sigcaweni and Masibekela high schools – are aware and have confronted the Examination Council seeking answers after noting anomalies in their results.

Sigcaweni sought answers after pupils who sat for the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) paper did not get any grade for the subject.
This publication understands that even though Sigcaweni is only aware of the ICT anomaly, other subjects were also given ‘false’ grades because their scripts were also lost. 

With Masibekela, the school raised the issue after realising that their pupils had performed dismally in the Agriculture subject yet they were known to be the best in the country and even won a national award for their outstanding performance. 

This publication’s sources allege that it is suspected that the Exams Council ‘cooked’ the results for the Agriculture subject and other subjects except for ICT.
This is because the ICT paper is set and marked at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom as it falls under the International General Certificate in Secondary Education (IGCSE) programme as opposed to the others that fall under the local Swaziland General Certificate in Secondary Education (SGCSE).

With those subjects that fall under SGCSE, the exams council is accused of having given the pupils grades using an unknown discretion.
But with the ICT subject (which had Paper I, II and III), they could not do anything to the grading because this has to be done by Cambridge University.

Pupils dismayed

This publication spoke to some of the learners from Sigcaweni who sat for the ICT paper and they relayed their dismay at having written an examination for which they ended up not getting a grade.
The pupils, on their final results slips, have the status ‘pending’ written next to the ICT subject.

“When we got the results, we thought we had performed so badly in ICT we couldn’t even be graded. But what wasn’t clear was why they did not give us a ‘U’ grade to symbolise ‘ungraded’ instead of writing ‘pending’. When we enquired at school what had happened, we didn’t get clear answers and we were never persistent because we still believed we had performed poorly,” one of the former pupils said.

Another said they were at pains with not getting the results because they knew ICT to be an important subject since most things were now technology based.
“Having an ICT certificate is an advantage nowadays; even if I had scored an E grade I deserve to be given it so that I have something to show that I did write the subject in Form V,” the other former pupil stated.

Sigcaweni High School Head teacher Siphasha Dlamini said after learning that the pupils had not been given grades, she approached the Exams Council for clarity, but there were no answers, even to this day.
“We are worried as a school and as parents. The former pupils still come to the school looking for the ICT results and we always promise them that we are still working on it,” she said.

Dlamini said she even reported the matter to the Regional Education Officer after seeing that little progress was being made with the Exams Council.
“We still want to find out what happened. We are still in the dark. We submitted the papers to the exams council and we have evidence for this. When we asked what the ‘pending’ meant we were told that it’s a common thing, it happens,” she said.
The principal stated that the Exams Council then requested back up files from the school which were duly given to them, but there were still no results given to them.
“We have just been made aware that certificates for that year are now available and I will find out when I go to collect them if the grades are now included,” Dlamini said.

Principal livid
Masibekela High School Principal Enock Dlamini is livid at the Exams Council over what happened and is demanding the institution to come out and be transparent about the matter.
“This is the future of our children we are talking about. This matter made me so angry. I literally trembled when I learnt about it and couldn’t even address it properly,” he said.
He said what got him hot under the collar was that the Exams Council never bothered to call to alert him that his pupils’ scripts were missing.
“They should have called me to say they couldn’t find my pupils’ scripts, but they never did,” the head teacher said.
He said he only got to learn about the pupils’ missing scripts from one of his school teachers who happened to be among the teachers who were marking the scripts.
He blamed two individuals within council for this and said the Registrar, Dr Edmund Mazibuko, was apparently kept in the dark about the lost scripts.
“I went to Dr Mazibuko and we held at least three meetings where the two individuals were called in but all they did was to lie. They refused to tell me if the scripts were marked as they said this was confidential information for the council. One of these officials is a pompous person and he kept telling one lie after another,” he said.
The principal said the issue needed to be discussed openly and the truth revealed because it had compromised schools’ trust with the council.

Ministry promises to act
“Can we continue relying on them and trusting that they are doing good for our education. We are talking about parents’ hard earned money here. The officials are obviously covering for each other and they need to be exposed,” he said.
Minister of Education and Training Lady Mabuza said even though she was not aware of the matter, she would take it up now that it has been brought to her attention.
“Definitely, I will follow up on it as early as Monday (tomorrow),” she assured.
Mazibuko, the Exams Council Registrar, was called several times on his mobile phone since Friday afternoon, but he did not respond to the calls.
A text message was sent to him containing the questions that needed answers to but he did not reply to any.
He was again called a number of times yesterday and still did not respond. Later in the afternoon his phone was “either switched off or out of coverage area” when called again on several instances.
However, this publication has it in authority that Mazibuko became aware on Friday that this publication was pursuing an article on the 2017 Form V results, specifically on the ‘lost’ papers and ‘false’ grades.
 Lubombo REO Musa Mthupha could not be found for comment as his phone was not available on the MTN network.

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