Private schools in the country have insisted that Form Four students should pay school fees when they return to school next month.
The Independent Schools Association of Malawi (ISAMA) has made the demand following Ministry of Education’s directive that no school in the country should demand fees from the students who will sit for fresh Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exams starting in January.
Secretary for Education Chikondano Mussa said in a statement on Sunday that at the time the 2020 MSCE exams were cancelled, Form Four students had not fully utilized their fees for term three which is normally paid in full.
Mussa then directed that no school shall demand fees from the students as examinations will be administered within one month from the day the students report at school.
But ISAMA President Joseph Patel has accused government of making a U-turn, claiming that they had already agreed that students in private schools will pay 20 percent of full term fees.
He added that the association is surprised with the ministry’s directive and will engage the ministry to seek clarification.
Students will re-sit for the MSCE exams after the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) cancelled the MSCE exams on November 4 due to massive leakage of exam papers.
MANEB planned to re-administer the exams starting in March but President Lazarus Chakwera ordered MANEB to ensure that the exams start before the end of January.
