Experts hail four-year leakage-free examinations

Education experts in the country have hailed the Ministry of Education and the Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb) for administering leakage-free examinations for the past four years.

In an interview yesterday, Edukans country director Limbani Nsapato said the ministry has won the hearts of stakeholders, including foreign academic institutions by curbing the malpractice of examinations leakage

He 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 taxpayers’ money that might otherwise have been lost through re-administration of the exams. 

“There is still need, however, to seal cheating loopholes as the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education [PLSCE] and the Junior Certificate of Education [JCE] are key determinants of learner progression on the education ladder.”

Nsapato said the credibility of the examination process is also imperative to ensure tangible improvements in education governance and management in the country.

On his part, Civil Society Education Coalition executive director Benedicto Kondowe, attributed the past four years of no leakage in examinations to the change of leadership at Maneb.

In reaction to the sentiments yesterday, Secretary for Education, Chikondano Mussa, said the efforts to crack down on examination leakage have indeed helped to save resources that get drained when reconstructing new sets of examination papers when  exams get botched.

She said: “These four years of leakage-free  have helped to build trust in the examinations that students are sitting for, and there is improved morale in learners to work hard as they are now confident that they will not sit for repeated examinations.”

This year, national examinations began on May 10 with PSLCE, followed by JCE on May 30 and Malawi School Certificate of Education on July 21.