Examiner Contract Final


ZIMBABWE SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL
EXAMINER’S CONTRACT
Examiners should note that the acceptance of this invitation to mark means acceptance of the terms and conditions set out in this contract. Failure to comply with these rules may lead to the cancellation of this contract and the examiner forfeiting any fees for the work done. These conditions are not negotiable by examiners while at the marking venue. If for any reason you are unable to attend the marking, you may write back to the Council indicating such incapacity and registering interest in the future marking programs. This contract is between individual Examiners and ZIMSEC. No other parties should purport to represent, negotiate or act on behalf of individual Examiners who have accepted this contract.
2 Marking Discipline
The Public Service Code of Conduct and the Official Secrets Act shall apply to all examiners during marking and the Council reserves the right to raise an adverse report to the relevant authorities about any examiner whose conduct/behavior contravenes that Code of Conduct and Act. All Examiners are therefore required to sign the Official Secrets Act before the start of the marking exercise. Examiners are expected to comply with the following rules that guide the conduct of marking:
2.1 Examiners must not disclose to the public their identity as examiners or divulge any information acquired in the course of their work. Examiners are therefore warned against advertising their services as examiners for the purposes of conducting personal private business.
2.2 Examiners will be expected to work from 08:00 to 17:00 every day until all the marking has been completed. Working hours for resident examiners may be adjusted or extended beyond normal working hours depending on the recommendations of the Principal Marking Supervisor and the Centre Supervisor. The use of mobile phone in the National Standardisation, Marking and Grading rooms is prohibited.
2.3 Examiners, who come late, depart or dismiss early or absent themselves for any part of the exercise will only be compensated for actual work executed. Accordingly any examiners who do not report for duty as expected will receive payment for days or time prorated according to their attendance. At Council’s election, contracts of deviant examiners can be cancelled.

2.4 All examiners will work under the professional guidance and supervision of Subject Managers and Senior Examiners. Appointed Marking Supervisors shall monitor the quality of marking process and may withdraw scripts from markers whose conduct or execution of work is deemed inappropriate. Only designated officials from ZIMSEC and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education have the mandate to supervise or monitor the marking of examination scripts.
2.5 All examiners shall be cleared by their Belt Marking Supervisors before they can leave the marking centres. It is the responsibility of each examiner to obtain such clearance before leaving the marking centre to avoid delays in payment. Belt Marking Supervisors should be satisfied that all marks are captured and related documents have been accurately completed and submitted before they clear examiners.
2.6 Examiners must not mark scripts from centres they have vested interest in. Examiners are therefore required to declare on the claim form as well as to the Belt Marking Supervisor, at the beginning of marking, the centres whose scripts should not be allocated to them. Examiners should report to the Centre Supervisor any examiner(s) found interfering or showing undue interest in the marking of scripts from their centres or scripts for candidates known to the examiner(s) concerned. Where Council subsequently discovers that examiner/centres interest existed and was not declared, such examiner will be penalized and prevented from future marking exercises.
2.7 Examiners should desist from using their influence and leadership positions to divulge or transmit confidential information through social media or other media about the conduct of marking and related matters to undesignated people in violation of the Official Secrecy Act.
3 Standards Control
3.1 The Council will hold Senior Examiners responsible for any unprofessional behavior by examiners under their charge.
Senior Examiners are reminded that their chief responsibilities are to monitor, control and maintain a high standard of marking in order to ensure a high degree of accuracy, professionalism and discipline during marking. Principal Marking Supervisors are, therefore, accountable for the quality of work produced by examiners, including the conduct of examiners during marking.
3.2 It is the responsibility of Senior Examiners to ensure that all scripts have been marked, checked and all identified errors recorded and corrected as and when they are identified. It is the responsibility of the Principal Marking Supervisor to ensure that all marks are accounted for and that all re-allocated scripts are returned to their original boxes before they are handed over to ZIMSEC. Senior Examiners (PMSs, DPMs, and BMSs) will be held responsible for any missing marks and scripts at all levels of the marking.
Senior Examiners are required to carry out thorough and continuous coordination as well as checks on the accurate completion of various documents relating to the marking of scripts. The Subject Manager is the custodian of the standards of marking and hence all questions and queries relating to the organization, quality and standards of marking should be escalated through the marking leadership to the Subject Manager. Senior Examiners (PMSs DPMSs and BMSs) must ensure that scripts for examiners under their charge are thoroughly checked and moderated and that all marks have been captured.
3.3 It is the responsibility of Senior Examiners to distribute stationery to all examiners and to ensure that all non-consumable items issued to examiners are returned to them and handed over to ZIMSEC before examiners are cleared check-out. Principal Marking Supervisors should ensure that they submit accurate script allocation schedules to ZIMSEC within four days of marking. The Council will not be held responsible for the delay in payment due to non-submission of accurate schedules in time.
3.4 Examiner Misconduct: Hoarding scripts, sub-contracting or hiring other examiners to mark your scripts, trading with scripts and or exchanging scripts for any reason is forbidden.
3.5 Senior Examiners must ensure that all scripts have been marked and all marks captured and accounted for. Mark Capturing Completion forms and all Missing Mark Report forms per component must be submitted to the Centre Supervisor before checking out.
4 Checking and Capturing of Marks
4.1 Checking Procedure
• Examiners should only check scripts after they have been moderated by Senior Examiners at all levels. Thus the standard procedure of marking is as follows: 1 – marking, 2 – moderation, 3 – verification/checking (accuracy/addition/gaps), 4 – capturing of marks 5 –run reports
• The Belt Marking Supervisor must moderate the required percentage of scripts under their charge.
• Examiners must check that all candidates ‘work has been marked and that marks allocated have been accurately added (no omissions).
Verification SHOULD be done on envelopes that have been moderated or passed by the BMS/PMS
• The PMS only receive scripts for checking from immediate supervisees as guided by the team structure
• Checked scripts, together with related documents, must be sent back to the BMS and error report forms must be duly completed with details of checked centres and other details.
• The PMS must check that each BMS has moderated the required percentage of scripts under their charge.

4.2 Marks Capturing
Capturers/verifiers should, inter alia, verify or check for:
• Scripts where a question, section or part of the question appears not to have been marked or not marked at all.
• Scripts whose sub-total or grand total marks have been incorrectly added.
• Candidates whose total marks on the script are the same as the candidate’s number. Alert your Senior Examiner where the rate of coincidence between the candidate’s marks and the candidate’s number is high.
• Candidates indicated as ABSENT or MISSING on the register but whose scripts have been presented.
• An Absent (A) mark should not be awarded by induction. Absent candidates should be verified before they are captured.
• All pirate candidates should be captured by Senior Examiners to the apportioned belt.
• Reports should be regularly run to show
(a) Work done
(b) Work to be done (partially captured marks).
(c)Errors/omissions
• Senior Examiners should assist the Subject Manager to complete a Marks Capturing Completion Certificate.
• Candidates with dual entry but different candidate numbers.
4.3 Examiners may be required to manually mark multiple choice answer scripts at a rate to be advised by the Council.
4.4 Marking Completion
1. All scripts should be accounted for through the completed Ex-Check forms
2. All marks should be accounted for through
• The Marks Capturing Completion Certificates
• Missing Mark Report forms
5 Institutional Rules and Property
5.1 Marking centres are out of bounds to members of the mass media and trade union representatives and examiners must not discuss marking and other welfare issues with members of the press or any unauthorized persons in contravention of section 4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1970.
5.2 Examiners’ marking rooms and halls of residence are out of bounds to unauthorized visitors. All examiners’ visitors shall not be hosted at the marking centres at any point. For security reasons, advise all your visitors to report to the Centre Supervisor whose professional discretion should be sought to sanction contact between the examiner and the visitor during working hours.
5.3 Examiners are required to respect and to be personally responsible for all Institutional and Council property issued to them at the marking centre. Institutional furniture and crockery should be handled with care to avoid loss or breakages. All property issued to examiners must be returned to the relevant authorities before checking out. Failure to do so may lead to a surcharge.
5.4 Examiners must observe meal times and hours for visiting sick bays as set out by the administration at the marking centre. Carrying food from the dining hall and storing it in halls of residence is strictly prohibited and the Council will not be held responsible for any cases of food poisoning resulting from such food or any food brought from elsewhere by examiners.
5.5 All forms of non-professional behavior will not be accommodated by the Council at any stage during the marking exercise.
A high moral standard is expected from all examiners. Examiners are, therefore, urged to conduct themselves with dignity and respect in order to preserve the integrity of the Council, the host institution and their personalities. Examiners who engage in behavior that threatens the integrity of their professions and families or conduct that puts the Council into disrepute will be excluded from marking.
6 Travel and Subsistence
6.1 Examiners will be provided with accommodation at centralized marking venues. The Council will not provide cash in lieu of accommodation for examiners who opt for alternative accommodation. Examiners who are invited into residence but prefer commuting from their homes will not be reimbursed any transport fees and they shall forfeit their overnight allowance. The Council will not be responsible for expenses incurred by examiners who report for marking before the check in date. All examiners will be provided with breakfast, lunch, dinner or cash in lieu of any meal determined by the Council.
6.2 Examiners are required to make their own travel arrangements from their official stations to the marking venue and back. The Council will reimburse travel expenses for journeys made to the marking venue. Examiners should, therefore, ensure that they obtain tickets for all their trips to avoid queries. Where tickets are not obtainable, the Council will reimburse examiners for a return journey using known public transport rates or unproved statutory rates. Examiners who travel by luxury coaches will be reimbursed upon production of tickets for the journey(s).
6.3 Where transport from the city centre to the marking venue has been provided, the Council will not reimburse taxi fares/transport expenses incurred by examiners who arrive late after provided transport has left the pick-up point.
6.4 Examiners are encouraged to travel in good time, early enough to be able to check-in at convenient times between 1500hrs and 1700hrs other than any time into the night. At all times, personal safety should be ensured.
6.5 Examiners who opt to drive shall do so at their own discretion. The Council will reimburse those who drive using prevailing luxury coaches rates provided they seek authority from the Assistant Director – Examinations Administration before the journey to the marking venue is made. Under no circumstances will authority to drive be granted at the marking venue. Authority to drive shall only be granted to Examiners travelling with at least three other colleague Examiners attending the national standardization/marking meeting. Where authority to drive has been granted the following are required before payment is made:
i. Proof of ownership (Car registration)
ii. Insurance Cover
iii. National ID
iv. Proof of authority to drive
v. The vehicle must be physically there at the marking venue.
6.6 The Council indemnifies itself against any accident, injury or loss of life or property that may occur during the course of the journey to the marking venue. The Council will not reimburse any costs for daily use of own vehicle to and from the venue of marking.

7 Payment of Examiners
7.1 Script rates were based on the projected movement of the exchange rate through the auction system. All payments for marking fees will be done within seven days after the marking exercise. Adjustments will be made accordingly at the time of payment if the movement of the exchange rate exceed the projected levels.
All examiners’ income will be subjected to withholding tax of 10% in accordance with the tax laws of Zimbabwe. Those with tax clearance certificates can submit them to avoid the deduction of the 10%.
7.2 Travel and subsistence for the check-in and check-out days will be paid to all examiners.
7.3 A supplementary allowance will be paid to all examiners in residence.
7.4 Coordination and responsibility fees shall accrue only once to any examiner notwithstanding the number of coordination meetings he/she conducts. Examiners are not allowed to mark more than one component at the same level or across levels (This can only be done through a special clearance by the Subject Manager).
7.5 The Council indemnifies itself against any loss of money, delayed payment, due to wrongly quoted bank details or submission of inaccurate script allocation figures. The Council will not be held responsible for any problems encountered by examiners in their banks. It is the responsibility of the examiner to maintain a sound bank account.
7.6 Integrity is an important requirement for being an examiner. Examiners are, therefore, required to complete mark sheets and claim forms accurately and honestly. False claims will not be honoured. Any examiner who presents false claims to the Council with intent to defraud the Council of public funds will be liable to instant dismissal from marking and prosecution.

8 Medical Expenses and Personal Insurance
8.1 Examiners are encouraged to take out adequate medical and personal insurance cover .The Council is under no obligation to meet medical, and ambulance expenses including optical, dental and maternity expenses that may be incurred by examiners during marking. Examiners are therefore advised to take out adequate medical insurance cover.
The Council does not accept liability for any eventualities that may occur during the course of marking and may assist only at its own discretion.
8.2 Examiners who are already ill, on sick leave, due to go on sick or maternity leave, nursing infants, have a condition which is likely to deteriorate or cause any suffering or loss of life, are advised not to take up the marking contract. It is the responsibility of the examiner to ensure that he /she obtains medical attention, should this be required, during marking. Under no circumstances will nursing mothers, their babies and maids be admitted into residence in breach of Children’s Protection Laws. Should this exclusion of nursing mothers or imminent date of delivery be defied, upon discovery the contract with the examiner in question will be terminated and the examiner will not be reconsidered for marking for a further two years.
8.3 The Council reserves the right not to admit any examiner who has a condition that is likely to deteriorate or lead to loss of life during the course of the marking exercise. In the best interest of examiners and their families, the Council may require any examiner to obtain a medical certificate of fitness from the doctor before being admitted for marking.
8.4 Public Health and Security : COVID 19

In the interest of your health and security, the following protocols will apply to mitigate the spread of of Covid 19:

i. all Examiners, supervisors and service providers will be tested for Covid 19 before admission to the marking venue.
ii. any Examiner who test positive for Covid 19 will not be allowed to participate in the marking exercise.
iii. Marking Centres will be configured to minimum quarantine centre requirements in accordance with WHO standards.
iv. Examiners will be required to remain in residence until they have completed their marking.
v. no other persons, including family members, Association leaders and members of press will be allowed into the Marking Centre without undergoing Covid 19 testing.
vi. the mandatory wearing of masks, social distancing and regular washing of hand shall be observed throughout the programme.
vii. in the event of anyone falling sick during the cause of the programme, all safety and health protocols will be followed.

8.5 Vulnerable Groups

In accordance with WHO Mass Gathering Covid 19 Risk Assessment guidelines ,individuals who are over sixty (60) years of age or those who have underlying medical conditions including and not limited to heart and respiratory conditions, asthma ,HIV, Diabetes, Cancer ,Kidney disease and obesity, that may compromise their safety and health SHOULD take up this contract.

9 Communication
9.1 Any problems encountered during marking must be communicated to Senior Examiners who, in turn, should communicate these to the Centre Supervisor. For any information relating to marking, but outside marking periods, communicate with your ZIMSEC Regional office. For any inquiries relating to marking, please contact the Council through the following numbers:

0712 760 863 (Administration),
0775 412 301 (Payments)

Dr L. Nembaware
DIRECTOR – ZIMBABWE SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL.

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