The Zanzibar Examinations Council (ZEC) was previously known as the Zanzibar Educational Measurement and Evaluation Board. ZEC was formally established by mandate of Act No. 6 of 2012 of the House of Representatives in Zanzibar. The Act provides the legal mandate for ZEC, whose roles include the following:

• To prescribe assessment and standards to be achieved at primary, secondary and teacher education level;
• To set and conduct Examinations based on the relevant curricula;
• To monitor the assessment system at both school and teacher training college level;
• To conduct research in collaboration with local, regional and overseas professional bodies;
• To evaluate education programmes.

Currently the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training is responsible for allocating staff to ZEC, providing policy guidelines and issuing subvention grants. Since ZEC is not currently receiving any support from development partners, the bulk of its funding comes from the RGoZ through these subvention grants. The director of the Zanzibar Examinations Council is responsible for giving directives to ZEC officials while also acting as a mediator between the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and ZEC.