28 January 2022
Vimbayi Mahachi
The newly enected Media law crimimalises falsehood.
Seemingly the general populace is either oblivous of this fact or are just acting ignorant.
Yet, ignorance has no defence in the court of law.
Sometime last year a video of President ED Mnangagwa circulated on social media where he bemoaned a story that purported to have emanated from his office. The statement claimed that a serious lockdown had been proclaimed by the President because of the Covid-19 Omicron Variant.
The statement was false and the President came out lambasting the author of the statement and threteaned that level 4 sentence would be delivered to the author of the statement once the C.I.Os found who wrote and circulated the statement.
Yesterday the Social media awash yet again of news suggesting that last year grade seven examination results had been released.
In a telephone interview with Zim GBC News, Public Relations Officer for ZIMSEC Nicky Dlamini dismissed the news as untrue.
During the interview Dlamini stated that Zimsec does not communicate on Whatsapp.
“We don’t communicate on Whatsapp, if you are on our mailing list you should know that we always give press releases in our boardroom as well as our mail lists.” Said Dlamini.
She went on to explain that once the examination board was through with its processes grade seven results will be released first week of February.
The delay has resulted in many children not knowing which school they will be attending form one. This is because form one places are applied for through a ministry of education online portal.
The results and the student examination number are a prerequisite on the portal. Without the two the portal will not process the application.
This delay has left parents in a quandry as to planning. There are new uniforms to be purchased and there is traveling to the chosen schools.
Meanwhile, grade seven results for the year 2020 were released in February of 2021. Since the onset of Covid-19 the school calendar has been constantly adjusted to meet up with lockdowns that were placed to mitigate the spread of the corona virus.
There was a decline in the national pass rate which was 37,11 percent against 46,9 percent in 2019, translating to a decrease of 9,79 percent.
Statistics from Zimsec show that more girls passed their 2020 Grade Seven Examinations compared to boys.
Zim GBC News