Education experts have commended the Ministry of Education and Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) for successfully curbing the malpractice of examination leakage and saving millions of taxpayers’ money that might otherwise have been lost through re-administration of the exams.
The experts said this was made possible because of the change of leadership at MANEB that has helped brought a change in the management of examinations in the country.
Education expert Limbani Nsapato said the Ministry of Education and the Malawi National Examinations Board must be commended for administering leakage-free exams for the past four consecutive years, thus saving millions of tax-payers’ money that might otherwise have been lost through re-administration of exams.
“There is still need, however, to seal cheating loopholes as the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PLSCE) and the Junior Certificate for Education (JCE) are key determinants of learner progression on the education ladder. The credibility of the examination process is also imperative to ensuring tangible improvements in education governance and management in the country,” he explained.
Meanwhile, another education expert who is also Executive Director for the Civil Society Education Coalition, Benedicto Kondowe, has attributed the past three years of no leakage in Malawi’s examinations to the change of leadership at MANEB, which he said has made greatly restored the credibility of the exams.
Kondowe noted that the supervision of the entire examination process has been improved, including the setting, printing, administration, security and transportation of the examination papers.
“The change of leadership at MANEB has helped bring a change in the management of examinations in the country. The involvement of law enforcement agencies in transportation and distribution of exam papers has been a great initiative towards minimizing leakages.
The new leadership has also improved payment of allowances to security officers and invigilators, who previously reported for duties at examination centres without any money, leading to frustration and hence leakage of the exams,” Kondowe stated.
This year’s examinations commenced on 10th May 2023, starting with the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PLSCE), followed by the Junior Certificate for Education (JCE) and concluding with the administration of the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) on 21st July 2023.
In 2020, MSCE exams were cancelled following leakage of examinations papers. Students sat again for the exams in 2021.
The leakage led to the removal of the then MANEB chief executive officer Gerald Chiunda.
