Zimbabwe School Examination Council Public Relation Manager, Nicky Dhlamini said review of examination fees was necessary to fund operations which will result in the successful running of national examinations.

He was responding to concerns from parents over the increase in exam fees amid fears that some pupils will fail to write their Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations.

“The last review was in 2015 which saw fees being pegged at US$15 since then, even though the economy and currency has changed, ZIMSEC did not change its fees.

“The fees review is not based on United State dollar rate but on cost of the running of examinations in Zimbabwean dollars.

“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare have programmes which will assist the underprivileged candidates whose cases are presented to them.

“ZIMSEC examinations are run based on the number of candidates who register. It is therefore not possible for us to foretell the number of candidates as ZIMSEC does not run on schools.
“ZIMSEC does not review fees autonomously.

There is a board of Directors which thoroughly vets the proposed figures before presenting them to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.-H-Metro