The Lower Six students are now set to start classes in the second semester after the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) failed to release O-level results in a timely manner.
In previous years, Zimsec released results weeks before the end of the first term, giving prospective fifth-graders time to enroll and study for at least a month during the first term.
However, the first quarter of the year ends on Thursday and Zimsec has not yet released the results for the ordinary and advanced stages of 2021.
The Department of Primary and Secondary Education said the results will be released during the school holidays and parents and guardians should take advantage of the holidays to look for lower six places.
In an interview with Sunday News, the Director of Advocacy and Communications at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Taungana Ndoro, said lower sixth graders will start classes in the second term.
“At the moment, it is not possible to make any special arrangement for lower sixth graders to resume classes for the first semester,” he said.
“What will happen is that parents and guardians will take advantage of the school holidays to look for places and they will start classes with the other classes for the second term. At the moment, we are waiting for Zimsec to publish results for Ordinary levels which I think are imminent,” Ndoro said.
Schools are scheduled to open for the second semester on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 and close on Thursday, August 4, 2022.
Zimsec, on the other hand, said there was no specific date for the release of the results, with the panel’s spokesperson, Ms. Nicky Dlamini, saying they would complete some processes before the release of the results.
“At the moment I can say that the results will be published as soon as we have completed the ongoing processes, there is no exact date at the moment but everything is going well towards their publication,” Ms Dlamini said.
The opening of schools for the first semester has been slightly delayed this year due to the national confinement made necessary by Covid-19.
However, the government has managed to take the appropriate measures based on the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health and Childcare and ensure the reopening of schools safely.
Grade 7 results from last year’s exams were also slightly delayed, as the Form Ones started school on February 14, a week after the other years.
