Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa has called on President Lazarus Chakwera to immediately set up a Commission of Inquiry in order to find out the cause of the leakage of examination papers.
He made the remarks in a statement on Wednesday following the cancellation the 2020 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exams.
He said: “Such a Commission of Inquiry must comprise education experts and other relevant members drawn from the public and private sectors and not politicians.”
The Leader of Opposition also expressed concern that students will wait for about five months before the start of the fresh MSCE examinations.
He suggested that the period should be reduced considering that the students had already stayed idle for months due to COVID-19.
“I am aware that when MANEB is formulating examinations, they always have at least three sets of papers for the same subject to use in case of any eventuality. In that case, there would be no need for MANEB to wait for four months before they administer fresh MSCE examinations because they obviously have already formulated papers,” he said.
Nankhumwa then described the cancellation of the 2020 MSCE examinations as a blow to parents and guardians because their hard-earned resources, including money for school fees, have gone to waste.
He added that the issues surrounding the 2020 exams will also have a psychological impact on students.
He said: “I wish to state that it is apparent from the circumstances surrounding the cancellation that our students are innocent victims of a collapsing education system, riddled with many loopholes, including corruption.”
