Parents and guardians of Form Four students have demanded the firing of Minister of Education Agnes Nyalonje and Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) boss Gerald Chiunda over the cancellation of the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exams.
The exams were declared null and valid on Wednesday over leakage of examination of examination papers but parents want the two officials be fired.
Mzuzu based parent Joel Kaunga said the cancellations is unfair to people who dig deeper just to find school fees for their children.
“I am not happy honestly am not, I struggled to find money for my son’s school fees, how can they suspend the whole examination because of the few selfish people. How I wish President Chakwera should fire this minister because she failed to control the leakage,” said Kaunga.
In a separate interview, a parent from Mbalachanda Mzimba Mary Tchongwe who has daughter at Mbalachanda CDSS said Chakwera should take action.
“Our children here don’t have access of internet even that opportunity of having cellphone so that they did not have access to the leaked exams.
“It is so sad that looking into things many girls will end up into marriages before the next exams, this is unfair to learners who are leaving in rural areas,” she said.
Government announced that the exams will now be administered in March next year.
Rights group Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) said the cancellation will create an unnecessary fourth term for Form Four students hence government should ease financial burden on parents by paying schools fees for the candidates.
“Government should also put in place measure to absorb and cushion the financial burden that guardians and parents are likely going to incur because of this mess. In our considered view we do not expect both government and private schools to demand schools’ fees for the possible 4th terms for the candidates,” reads part of the statement.
