Rumbidzai Ngwenya
THE Zimbabwe School Examination Council (Zimsec) will today announce the 2021 ‘A’ level results.
The results come amid concerns from parents and guardians that the examination body had failed to release the 2021 Ordinary and Advanced Levels results on time.
But speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Zimsec spokesperson Nicolette Dhlamini said the results had actually been released earlier this year than last year.
“We will make the official announcement of the ‘A’ level results tomorrow (today) at 2 pm.
“While people were saying we were late, we are actually not late compared to last year.
“This year we are releasing the results on the 5th of April unlike last year when we released the results on 23 of April. So, people were just being edgy, but we were still on course and the results are on the way,” Dlamini said.
She said the Covid-19 pandemic had affected the school calendar as well as the marking of the examinations.
“We last had a normal school calendar in 2019 and since then everything including school terms have been disturbed.
“Learners have also been writing their exams quite late which also meant that even the marking would have to be a bit delayed than before the pandemic.
“But the body has been working around the clock to make sure that the results are out and learners who need to progress with education are not inconvenienced.”
Before Covid-19 the council would release results in February, giving “O” Level candidates time to enroll for Lower Sixth form and “A” Level students in university.
The delay in the release of “A” Level results this year has forced some universities such as the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) and Midlands State University (MSU) to defer their intakes.
Teachers’ unions have, however, said the dispute between Zimsec and examination markers over allowances early this year was the major reason behind the delay in the release of results.
The council had since agreed to settle outstanding allowances for markers who were threatening industrial action over payments and marking has progressed on well.