Maneb restructuring MSCE exams
The Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb) says it is working on restructuring the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examination paper content and format so that it covers work from forms one to four beginning 2019.
In a press statement issued on Sunday signed by Maneb acting executive director Jack Chalimba, the board says the development follows the phasing out of the Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) examinations.
Chalimba assured the public that measures have been put in place to ensure that quality and standard of MSCE examination papers are maintained.
“The examination syllabus committee will meet to develop new MSCE tables of test specification based on both the junior and senior secondary syllabuses.
“The tables of test specification will take into consideration topics, subtopics and their related learning outcomes from both the junior and senior secondary syllabuses,” reads the statement in part.
Chalimba further says sample MSCE papers will be developed from the new MSCE tables of test specifications and sent to all secondary schools by January 2018.
He says current form four students will not be affected as they had already written JCE examinations.
In September last year, President Peter Mutharika approved recommendations from the Public Service Reform Commission to abolish JCE examinations which will be replaced by cluster-based examinations.
Meanwhile, government has also stopped printing Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) to save costs.
This year’s JCE examinations were the last while Standard 8 learners will not be issued with certificates after writing examinations.
Some civil society organisations (CSOs) and the Independent Schools Association of Malawi have since argued that the abolition of JCE examinations was rushed, saying it will be naive to wait for four years to assess students. n
