CHAOS rocked the start of the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) June “O” and “A” Level examinations which started yesterday, with teachers’ unions claiming government hired “villagers and ancillary staff” to invigilate the public examinations after most of their members boycotted over poor working conditions.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou yesterday told NewsDay that

schools in rural areas had resorted to hiring villagers to supervise the examinations, raising questions about the integrity of the examinations.

At Vhembe Secondary School in Matabeleland South province, district officials invigilated the examinations, while in other areas including Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Karoi, Mutare, Uzumba, Maramba and Pfungwe, parents were hired to invigilate the examinations after teachers failed to turn up.

He added: “There are reports from the rural areas of schools that enticed some villagers to come and invigilate under the supervision of at least a teacher in every class and some heads have sent an SOS through Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) for villagers with 5 ‘O’ Levels to report to schools for consideration as invigilators.

Another sad development was recorded in schools in border areas, where some candidates just sneaked in from other countries and went straight into examination rooms with others.