For Immediate Release
Friday, 23rd August 2024
STATEMENT BY, DR. MICHAEL M. CHILALA, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ON THE MARKING OF THE 2024 JUNIOR SECONDARY EXTERNAL (GRADE 9) AND GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION (GCE) EXAMINATIONS SCRIPTS
The Examinations Council of Zambia wishes to update stakeholders and the nation on the marking of the 2024 Junior Secondary External (JSE) and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations.
1. Conduct of Examinations
The 2024 JSE and GCE examinations where written from Thursday, 25th July 2024 to Friday, 9th August 2024. We wish to inform stakeholders that the examinations were successfully conducted in line with the Guidelines for the Administration and Management of Examinations in Zambia.
2. Invitation of Examiners for Marking
The examiners for the 2024 Junior Secondary External examination were invited through the Provincial Education Officers, since the marking at this level is decentralised and organized at provincial level. The examiners for the 2024 GCE examination were invited using the newly developed and deployed Examiner Management System (EMS), which provides for the examiners to register and confirm their availability for marking, online. The system is integrated to the Online Marks Entry System (OMES), which provides for apportionment of scripts, online claims for the scripts marked and the accounting system for payment of examiners.
3. Marking Arrangements
a. Junior Secondary (Grade 9) External (JSE) Examination
The marking of the 2024 JSE examination scripts took place as was scheduled from Monday, 12th August 2024 and was successfully completed on Saturday, 17th August 2024. ECZ has since received the marks and processing is underway.
b. General Certificate of Education (GCE)
The marking of the 2024 GCE examination scripts commenced on Monday, 19th August 2024 and is expected to end on Saturday, 31st August 2024. The examiner turnout ranges from 75% to 100%. All the examiners are being accommodated in the marking centres and provided with meals by the marking centres, based on the ECZ standard menu. We wish to thank all the examiners who have continued to participate in this exercise over the years.
c. Payment of Markers
ECZ paid transport and lunch allowances to all markers of the 2024 Junior Secondary External (JSE) examination scripts through the Provinces while the marking was still ongoing, while their script marking fees will be paid by Monday, 26th August 2024.
The examiners who are currently marking the 2024 GCE examination scripts are being paid their transport allowances before they leave the marking centres in order not to inconvenience them. Further, measures have been put in place for their script marking fees to be paid within 10 days (by 10th September, 2024) after the end of the marking exercise.
Stakeholders may wish to know that through a consultative process with stakeholders who included chief examiners among others, the ECZ effected a new examiner payment scheme which tied all fees to the scripts marked and increased the fees from K2.20 per script to K7.0 per script for smaller scripts, and from K3.85 to K8.0 per script for bulky papers.
4. Conclusion
On behalf of the Board, Management and staff of the ECZ, I wish to thank the Government of the Republic of Zambia, through the Ministry of Education, our esteemed examiners and all other stakeholders that have stood with the Council throughout our journey, as we move to deliver quality assessments and education services to the people of Zambia. We remain committed to our Vision to be An Educational Assessment Body of Excellence.
Issued by: (Original Signed)
Dr Michael M. Chilala
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL OF ZAMBIA
