President Lazarus Chakwera says the fresh Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exams must be administered no later than January.
The Malawi leader was speaking on Thursday in a national address on the cancellation of the 2020 MSCE examinations.
Chakwera noted that Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) has set to 29 March, 2021 as the date for the start of the fresh exams.
He, however, argued that the five-month wait for the fresh exams is too long and not in the public interest.
“I am giving the Malawi National Examinations Board until the end of this month to remove the top management of MANEB on account of this gross failure and replace it with a new team that will conduct the most credible examinations Malawi has ever had, which must be done no later than January.
“A country that has just witnessed the best national elections in history being conducted in record time, cannot wait five months for school exams to be administered,” said Chakwera.
On the leakage of the exams, Chakwera said it is unacceptable and noted that the education of over 100,000 students has been thrown off course.
“This is a clearly a deliberate act occasioned by elements of criminality, impunity and negligence that cannot be allowed to continue,” said Chakwera.
The Malawi has also given the Ministry of Education one week to identify and discipline the people who leaked the exams and the officers who allowed the leakage to happen.
