18 Oct 2023

The recent leaking of (Botswana General Certificate of Secondary School Education) BGCSE final examination papers is a matter of national security, and should be a wake up call for the country’s education system to do things differently, Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) has said in a press statement.

“This is a severe national matter which fits the status equivalent to national security,” it says and calls on everyone, “from examination authorities, printers, proofreaders, messengers and moderators to school administrators should assist in finding the culprits.” 

The teacher union says the leaks are not only worrying and distressing but, their occurrence threatens the very integrity of the country’s education. 

“It should be known that engaging in examination malpractice erodes students’ sense of academic integrity and ethical conduct, which fosters a culture of dishonesty and undermines the principles of fairness and meritocracy in education,” it says. 

Further, such malpractice brings about disparities in the examination system, with leaner performance being so starkly different that, the very integrity of the examination system is compromised, it says. The union however, has commended individuals who quickly detected and reported the malpractice before it could spread across the country. But, prevention is better than cure, it says. 

“While we commend the minister for promptly responding [and preventing] the situation from worsening, we believe that … to avert similar incidents in the future, a strategic dedication is indispensable to [enhancing] monitoring of the examination ecosystem,” it says.

The statement says the union acknowledges the anxiety that learners are having, after cancellation and postponement of the examinations, which they have been preparing for, and therefore calls on parents and teachers to work together to lessen that anxiety. ENDS