Grade 12 exam candidates excluded in Zambezia for carrying mobile phones

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Grade 12 exam candidates excluded in Zambezia for carrying mobile phones

11:03 CAT | 18 Jul 2017

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Eleven candidates for the Grade 12 extraordinary examinations were prevented from sitting their exams in Zambezia for trying to enter the exam room carrying mobile phones, contrary to previously announced rules.

João Assale, National Director of Examinations, Certification and Equivalence at the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH), provided the information yesterday in his preliminary report on the first day of exams across the country.

The cell phones were discovered using a metal detector, introduced in Zambezia just this year. The device has been in use in the city and province of Maputo since last year to detect students carrying mobile phones or other instruments which could potentially be used to retrieve information in exams.

“We want to renew our call for people not to take cell phones to the exam room because they will be disqualified from the tests. Apart from this situation, the exams started as planned. The 65 exams centres set up began and ended at the scheduled time. We would also like to appeal to candidates to carry the requisite identification documents. We had cases of people presenting themselves without any ID documents, rendering it impossible for them to sit the exams,” he said.

Assale also regretted that some candidates were late for the exams, many of them over the expected 10-minute tolerance.

“We also deplore the behaviour of some candidates, who registered for exams but did not come. The number of candidates who did not show up on the first day is around 18 to 20 percent across the country. These absentees cost the state a lot of money and a lot of wasted investment,” he said.

Portuguese and Philosophy exams were carried out yesterday, the first day of tests. English and Chemistry exams will take place today, and tomorrow, Wednesday, French and Physics. Thursday is Mathematics and History, and Friday, the last day of the exams, Geography, Drawing and Biology.

Close to 60,000 candidates are sitting the Grade 12 extraordinary examinations this year. The city and province of Maputo this year accounts for 51 percent of the total, similar to last year.

Source: Notícias