As far as I am concerned, the abolition of JCE and the general review of fees for public educational institutions is the only bold and strategic decision that the Peter Mutharika and the DPP government have ever made since May 2014. And I say, Congratulations!!
[caption id="attachment_51152" align="alignright" width="448"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Exams time[/caption]
The benefits of abolishing JCE by far outweigh the cost of maintaining it. Those that are unhappy with the abolition have very good reasons and arguments, but what they are missing is that, what we benefit, even in terms of value, from JCE as a nation must substantially surpass the cost that our poor government annually invests in the Examinations.
And it is also highly imperative to consider the actual tradeoffs of spending hundreds of millions of tax on JCE, when we cannot afford decent salaries of the teachers, medicine, medical and educational facilities, etc, whose value outweighs JCE. Our economy is going through a delicate situation which needs serious fiscal thinking and proper prioritization.
I would like also to commend government for reviewing and raising tuition and boarding fees for public educational institutions and eliminating scholarships for tertiary institutions. This is a very brilliant fiscally sound and convenient decision.
It does not make sense for one of the poorest countries on earth, to be spending huge subsidies for public services. In as much as public services must be subsidized, this must be done with utmost caution and prudent calculations to avoid choking the growth of the economy as have always been the case.
Infact, government must seriously consider introducing some fees for public hospitals and clinics too. These are bold decisions that must be despite consequent political controversy which is inevitable when such decisions are made. Otherwise, how does a poor country finance huge subsidies? It does not make any economic sense, unless we are thinking politics.
However, government must also ensure that corruption and unnecessary spending are not tolerated at all levels and departments of government. Otherwise, the resources that will be saved through the new fiscal initiatives, will only end up in the pockets of selfish government employees and the elite of the ruling party.
So, come on Mutharika and DPP, fear and refrain from corruption and the systematic stealing of government resources through meaningless spending like taking more than 100 people for a UN General Assembly.
Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb) has decried the effects of fake Facebook pages which continue to mislead people in relation to 2015 much awaited Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) 2015 examination results.
[caption id="attachment_62507" align="alignright" width="548"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: MSCE results in progress[/caption]
Maneb has been forced to come out to disown Facebook pages following the news that the MSCE examination results were waiting for President Peter Mutharika and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology's confirmation.
In an interview with Nyasa Times, Maneb Public Relations Officer, Simeon Maganga disclosed that the processing of the examination results was underway.
''MANEB has noted with great concern the spread of false "news" on social media about the release of 2015 MSCE examination results,'' complained Maganga.
Maganga said the processing of the 2015 MSCE examination was still underway.
''As per tradition, MANEB in conjuction with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, will announce the release of the results as soon as processing is finished in the soonest possible
time,'' added Maganga.
He could not however disclose when the examination results will be out.
One of the fake Facebook pages Maneb has disowned disclosed on Saturday that the examining body will release the results very soon as all the processes for the results are ready.
''Very soon they will be out after the Ministry of education confirmation and the office of the president,'' reads the message on Facebook purportedly from Maneb.
The 2014 MSCE examination results recorded a pass-rate increase at 54.8 percent compared to 52.48 percent recorded in 2013.
Out of 130, 293 candidates who wrote the examination in 2014, 71,486 qualified for the award of MSCE certificate.
Only 26 candidates were disqualified for failing to adhere to examination regulations.
Let me start with a disclaimer. I am not an expert in educational measurement, evaluation and assessment. These are highly specialised areas in educational research dealing with tests and examinations, and Malawi has quite a number of experts in the disciplines. My familiarity lies with curriculum, pedagogy, educational policy and teacher education. So my views in the ensuing discussion pertain to the policy implications of the decision, by the Malawi government, to abolish the Junior Certificate of Education (JCE), in the broader context of Malawi’s education system.
[caption id="attachment_95299" align="alignright" width="600"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Teaching in Malawi[/caption]
Several factors make the decision to abolish the JCE a monumental one. Debate on the JCE has been around for some time, although it was rather informal and sporadic. There have been research studies on educational assessment in Malawi, and a recommendation to abolish the JCE goes back to 2004, according to a study titledStudent testing and assessment reformdone by Kadzamira, E., Moleni, K., Kholowa, F., Nkhoma, M., Zoani, A., Chonzi, R., and Chigeda, A.
According to a 2013 article by Dr. Bob Chulu, Dean of the Faculty of Education at Chancellor College, in the journalAssessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, research studies in assessment have shown that school-based assessments are more effective than national examinations. The Malawi Government has been gradually evolving toward continuous assessment as a more effective mode of evaluating students.
Sooner or later, the JCE was going to be abolished, more for reasons of educational efficiency and the improvement of teaching and learning, than for economic exigency. It was only a matter of how and when to make the decision. Two questions now stare us in the face. First, whether the manner in which the decision has been arrived at has taken care of all the cautions issued and recommendations made by research studies. Second, where do we go from here?
As reported by theDaily TimesofMonday21st September, the decision to abolish the JCE has come as part of the on-going Public Service Reform Programme (PSRP). Government ministries, agencies and parastatals are doing internal scrutiny and deciding for themselves how and what to reform. The suggestions are taken to the PSRP Commission, where they are further scrutinised and debated, before making a decision on them and passing it on to the president. What this means is that the changes announced last week came from MANEB itself. The president merely approved them, probably after being convinced, by way of the commission’s decision.
Writ large, the public service reforms are a much-needed and welcome change for Malawi. The country’s future depends on them. We cannot continue business as usual, lest we manifest Albert Einsten’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results each time. As long as the internal process itself is systematic, consultative, and rigorous, we can rest assured of a process that will bear good fruit. Whether that indeed is the case will be known in due course.
Coming to the JCE question, a number of factors complicate the way in which the decision has been made. The first factor is that the reforms are happening at a time when the Malawi economy is undergoing severe problems. While it is true that necessity is the mother of all inventions, the danger in our circumstances is that institutions may be tempted to think of reforms dictated more by economic necessity than by the desire for wholistic efficiency. There is great risk here that the economic factors could triumph over common sense and end up skewing the reforms. This is not to question the timing of the reforms. It is the perfect timing. But the risk for skewed reforms needs to be taken seriously. In any case, and as Austin Madinga pointed out on his Facebook page, “it had to start somewhere.”
The second complicating factor is the efficiency, or lack of it, of our educational system. The majority of Malawians who start school dropout and never finish. About 900,000 enter school every year and after seven years about 700,000 drop out, according to government statistics (ESIP II, 2014). Only about 90,000 make it to secondary school yearly. This decision means that we will have millions of Malawians who attended some schooling but left with nothing to show for it. Countries that do not have the equivalent of the JCE tend to be countries whose dropout rates are negligible. Ours are some of the highest on the planet.
The idea of having people request for their Standard 8 transcript means that the majority will choose not to for reasons others have pointed out. It is true that both the Standard 8 and the JCE certificates are no longer valuable for employment. But this is based on faulty thinking, as I will explain in a moment.
The third factor relates to the message being sent about the value of education up to Form 3, as I have pointed out elsewhere. This is an unintended consequence concealed in the justification given for the decision to abolish the examination. The message to students, teachers and parents is that none of this education is important, until a student reaches Form 4. This reasoning emanates from what we could call, for lack of a better term, the kick-away-the-ladder syndrome.
The argument given by the government, that the JCE has lost its value and is not demanded by employers emanates from this syndrome. It can only be made after one has ascended to the roof and now thinks one no longer needs the ladder. So one kicks it away. The success is being mistaken for the path. The fact that you have now reached the roof does not mean you did not need the ladder all along. Sending this message about the value, or lack thereof, of education up to Form 3 can erode seriousness amongst students, teachers and parents. Though unintended, it is the wrong message to send.
The fourth factor is using employment demands to drive educational policy. This is a tricky one. While it is undeniable that employment is an overriding aim of education, focusing strictly on employment demands restricts the purposes of education. The purpose of education, as the late Tanzanian president Mwalimu Julius Nyerere pointed out in 1968, is to prepare students to thrive in and contribute positively to their society. People contribute to society in more ways than dictated by employment demands. Democratic citizenship is an equally important purpose of education, which should not play second fiddle to employment demands.
The fifth factor complicating this decision is the speed and volume of the changes. There have been no less than four major educational changes announced in a space of eleven days in September alone. And more are coming. There is a new secondary school curriculum now. There are new national educational standards. Many simultaneous changes could potentially send a shockwave through the education system. I don't envy the Ministry of Education officials, DEMs, PEAs and head teachers who have to implement all these radical changes all at once. We should consider introducing them in phases to allow for an orderly change management process.
In getting rid of the JCE, MANEB has offered continuous assessment as a replacement. Dr. Chulu observed, in his journal article, that continuous assessment was suggested to MANEB several years ago, and MANEB rejected it for reasons to do with security and reliability. Now that MANEB seems to have changed its mind, it is time to revisit the models suggested by assessment experts. Continuous assessment is not easy to conduct.
A pilot study done in Ntcheu in the early 2000s found that although it improved student performance, it was taxing. Teachers found it very demanding, especially in large classes. Teachers implementing continuous as part of the current Primary Curriculum and Assessment Reform (PCAR) have since complained that they spend more time filling forms and recording numbers than preparing for teaching. Rather than improve teaching and learning, this form of busy work has worsened matters.
Moving forward after the abolition of JCE will require meticulous caution. There will be need to consult widely, from students to teachers to parents and other stakeholders. Continuous assessment works in contexts where classes are small. The target of 60 students per teacher which Malawi has been aiming at for the past decade is far from the ideal, as anyone who has taught young people will testify. The only reason that ratio appears in our policy documents is because the status quo is unimaginable. We have perhaps the highest teacher-pupil ratios in the world. The official one appearing in policy documents, 1:78, is far from the reality on the ground. The national ratio obscures the true numbers in the lower grades.
Teachers need to be well educated, and resources need to be available for continuous assessment to succeed. A Zambian study on continuous assessment confirmed the problems caused by large classes and lack of teaching and learning resources (Kapambwe, 2010). It also identified student absenteeism and poor monitoring and feedback by district officials as other compounding factors.
These challenges are common to Malawi as well. If the money saved from these decisions does not go towards addressing the identified challenges and making conditions more conducive for continuous assessment, we will be courting worse disasters down the road.
There is a paradox about examinations. They influence teaching and learning because students, teachers and society tend to take them as the ultimate goal of education. They become self-reinforcing. This paradox extends to global educational role models. Finland, considered to have the best education system in the world, has only one national examination, taken at the end of secondary school. East Asia (China, Singapore, South Korea), which now produces the highest student performance scores in the world, relies on a heavy, punishing examination regimen. Some students commit suicide in the process.
A paradigm shift is underway in global education, moving from education for employment towards education for creativity and innovation. The rationale for this shift is that nobody can predict the world of the future, so it does not make sense to educate students for employment. Better to educate them for creativity and innovation so they can adapt their knowledge to solve problems unknown today.
There are good models Malawi can learn from. But removing the examinations without a careful, deliberate process could create a vacuum that could paralyse the system. We need to proceed very carefully and put in place long term plans, guided by meaningful consultations. Or else we will be solving a few problems while creating bigger ones.
Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb) finally released the much awaited 2015 Malawi School Certificate of education (MSCE) Examination with a 55.2 percent pass rate.
[caption id="attachment_62507" align="alignright" width="548"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: MSCE results out[/caption]
According to a short statement from Maneb, out of 136,296 candidates who wrote the exams in at least six subjects including English, 75,296 candidates have passed, representing a 55.2% pass rate.
In an interview with Nyasa Times, Maneb Public Relations Officer, Simeon Maganga said more details will be made available later on.
This year’s results have seen a rise in the pass rate comparing to last year's 54.8 percent.
For the pasr three years, the MSCE exams have been recording a successive increase in pass rate. In 2013 MSCE pass rate was 52.48 percent.
A rich debate has ensued in social media on how students these days can easily score an aggregate of six points, the best at Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE).
[caption id="attachment_62507" align="alignright" width="548"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: Exams are not meant to ambush candidates[/caption]
Information indicate that six students scored six points each at Chaminade Secondary School, another six students scored the same points each at Stella Maris Secondary School and five students got six points each at Marist Secondary School in Dedza.
This is just an example of just three schools sampled from the norrh, centre and south but there many schools that have produced the same result.
Hope Msukwa, a journalist, says there are a number of factors on this.
"Repeating class, study materials available, private schools work to out do one anorher and examination leakages," he says commenting on a post.
Some felt the government deliberately lowered the score marks so that many students pass and the government is not associated with failure while others say the lowering of the score marks was to enable as many children as possible to sit for university entry examinations.
But Simeon Maganga, the public relations officer for Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb) dismissed the suggestions as myths which have been there since time immemorial.
"Two years running now, there has been no exam leakage. Even if we go back in years there were leakages in 2000, 2007 and 2010, focussing on six points as a performance indicator one would see that the performance wasnlt any better," he says.
Maganga noted exams are not meant to ambush candidates, saying there is curriculum and syllabus from whose content exam questions are drawn.
The Malawi National Examination Board (MANEB) is withholding 2015 MSCE examination results for Nkhata Bay Secondary School and 250 other examination centers over outstanding debts, Nyasa Times has established.
[caption id="attachment_96481" align="alignright" width="425"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: Outstanding debts[/caption]
MANEB released 2015 MSCE results on October 13 2015, but some schools are yet to receive their results for not settling examination fees and related payments with MANEB.
According to information that Nyasa Times has gathered, students at the national secondary school duly paid the examination fees, but the school management allegedly used part of the funds for other things at the facility.
"Four form students paid examination fees and met all the necessary requirements, but school did not forward all the funds to MANEB.
"At the moment students and their parents bitter and are demanding explanations from school authorities over the development," said the source, who asked for anonymity.
Likewise, MANEB spokesperson Simeon Maganga confirmed on Tuesday that they are withholding MSCE results of over 250 examination centres, including the school in question, due to suspected outstanding debts.
"We communicated this development to relevant education offices in the affected districts who conveyed the same to the affected schools. Such schools’ representatives have since been coming to our offices with either evidence of payment or paying the balance, and they have since been collecting their examination results after settling the balances. Some centres have not come, yet," said Maganga.
He also said MANEB does not entertain any queries on examination results from individual candidates or anyone else apart from relevant examination centres.
Maganga advised that those examination centres whose examination results are still withheld should take trouble to come to their offices and settle the balance so that they access results and give to their candidates.
"Candidates whose results have been withheld due to suspected examination malpractices have a “W” clearly appearing as their grade in respective subjects. As rules of natural justice demand a person accused of any misconduct must be appraised of the particulars of the allegations made against him so that he may be able to prepare a defence adequately, we will be meeting them shortly to hear their defence before deciding on their fate," said Maganga.
He also declined to reveal names of the affected centres or candidates in fear of breaching the "client confidentiality agreement".
But Head Teacher for Nkhata Bay Secondary School, Ekenward Banda, who admitted to have been engulfed with pressure from students' parents over the development, denied claims that they owe MANEB in examination fees.
Banda said he was equally baffled when he got communication from MANEB requesting for the outstanding debt.
"Its true, MANEB has not released the results for our school and the students are very anxious. MANEB is demanding payment of K7,688, a figure we are not sure of. We are doing everything possible to have the results as soon as possible.
"We sent a representative to MANEB offices and he should be here tomorrow (Wednesday) with concrete information regarding MANEB's claims. As such, I can competently comment and provide meaningful information after being briefed by our representative who is on his way to NkhataBay from Zomba," said Banda when contacted to provide school' side of the story.
According to MANEB, out of the 136,296 candidates who sat for this year’s examination, in at least six subjects including English, 75,296 qualified for the award of the MSCE representing a 55.24% pass rate.
Out of the 80,958 internal candidates who sat for this year’s examination, in at least six subjects including English, 46,422 qualified for the award of the MSCE representing a 57.34% pass rate.
Out of the 26,741 external candidates who sat for this year’s examination, in at least six subjects including English, 14,370 qualified for the award of the MSCE representing a 53.74% pass rate.
Out of the 28,597 open candidates who sat for this year’s examination, in at least six subjects including English, 14,504 qualified for the award of the MSCE representing a 50.72% pass rate.
Thirty-eight candidates were disqualified in the examination for contravening MANEB regulations. The letter ‘D’ appears against the names of such candidates on the pass/fail list.
Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) has finally paid the allowances it owed teachers who invigilated and supervised the 2015 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE)Examination.
[caption id="attachment_97760" align="alignright" width="600"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Saka:Maneb has made strides in securing national examinations[/caption]
Maneb was for months failing to honour its contracts with the invigilators who were only paid half of the supposed allowances.
The examining body was supposed to pay residential and non-residential teachers MK16,000 and MK29, 600 respectively.
Teachers Union of Malawi (Tum) in October gave government a deadline of November 15, 2015 to pay the allowance, failing which they would engage in an industrial action.
Maneb Board Chairperson, Professor John Kalenga Saka disclosed that the examining body has since paid the allowances.
''We have made sure that we honor the contracts we had with invigilators. As am speaking the isssue of allowances has been sorted out, they are all paid,'' said Kalenga Saka.
Kalenga Saka revealed that his institution was experiencing cash-flow challenges which in the delayed the payment of allowances to the invigilators.
Meanwhile, Maneb has patted itself on the back for successfully curbing examination leakages and cheating which has been reduced to 99.9 percent.
Over the years Maneb examinations especially the Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) and Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) have been characterized by leakages and rampant cheating thereby eroding the examinations' credibility.
During the 2015 examinations, Maneb only recorded one incident of cheating with the examining body
Maneb was established by an Act of Parliament in 1987 to administer national examinations for purposes of certification, selection and placement.
''During the 2015 national examinations, we witnessed positive developments in the administration of the examinations. Leakage-free examinations,'' explained Kalenga Saka.
''This is in contrast with examination leakages at the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) level in the years 2000, 2007, 2012 and 2013''.
Kalenga Saka noted that the dawn of multiparty democracy has been associated with cheating which has escalated to alarming levels.
''Candidates misinterpreted freedom to mean they were even free to cheat in order to achieve better grades''.
In 2002, 5,254 candidates were disqualified due to cheating during MSCE examination, representing 8% and in 2003, a total of 2,345 candidates were also disqualified at the same level, representing
3.97%.
The trend has reduced to low levels. For instance, in 2014, only 126 candidates were disqualified at the MSCE level, representing 0.1%.
''Examination administrators reported on examination malpractices without fear or favour, and quickly. Examiners detected work that showed elements of cheating. Any cheating disadvantages the candidates, whose future becomes blink''.
He attributed the reduction of examination cheating to the introduction of IDs at all examination levels as well as the establishment of cluster system in order to eliminate impersonation
cases.
Saka also applauded examination stakeholders for the feat saying they were vigilant and contributed to the zero examination leakage.
The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) has opened a late registration window for those who have not yet done so for next year’s examinations.
[caption id="attachment_96481" align="alignright" width="425"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: Open window[/caption]
Normal registration period, which began in October, 2015, was closed on 11th December, 2015 for the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE), Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) and the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE).
According to a statement endorsed by its spokesperson, Simeon Maganga, the late registrants deadline for submission to MANEB is Thursday, 31st December, 2015.
“The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) is pleased to inform schools, prospective candidates and the general public that it has opened a late registration window for those who still wish to sit for the 2016 national examinations.
“Every late registrant will, however, pay a penalty of K2,000 and the normal registration and ID production fees. The Board is therefore appealing to all heads of examination centres which still have spaces to accommodate these late registrants and process their registration accordingly,” outlines the statement.
The statement further says all late registration submissions, except for ID forms, should go through respective DEMs which shall then submit the same to MANEB and that no candidate or school should bring their data directly to MANEB.
MANEB is a body responsible for developing, administering and processing of national examinations in Malawi.
The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) has embarked on a national-wide tour, sensitising schools and candidates on evils of examination malpractices and urging them to join the fight against the vice.
[caption id="attachment_96481" align="alignright" width="425"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: Civic education[/caption]
The exercise, dubbed “Anti-Examination Cheating Campaign” began on Monday, 18th January, 2016 and is targeting selected districts in all the three regions in the country.
MANEB Public Relations Officer, Simeon Maganga, said MANEB is communicating its messages using its in-house drama group to help make the message memorable.
“We’ve packaged our messages not only in speeches, brochure and posters but also in drama, music and poetry as we believe that edutainment leaves lasting impressions on the audience hence they could not easily forget anti-examination cheating messages,” said Maganga.
He further said, apart from preaching about examination malpractices, MANEB is also sternly warning candidates against any form of indiscipline during and after national examination.
“We’ve been getting informal reports that some candidates, mostly those in form four, choose to misbehave during and after sitting MSCE examination, claiming they are no longer under their respective schools but MANEB.
“Some of these candidates even go to the extent of vandalising school property, assaulting invigilators and/or their teachers, teasing and bullying their fellow students in lowers classes and engaging in all sorts of misbehaviour.
“So, we are telling both students and teachers that should this happen this year, the Board will evoke MANEB (Conduct of Examination) Regulation 29 (20) which provides for immediate disqualification of the culprits in the entire examination,” Maganga said.
He, however, said for MANEB to evoke this provision, supervisors or heads of school should formally lodge a complaint to MANEB, singling out such naughty candidates by providing their names and examination numbers. Otherwise, MANEB could not act based on heresy.
In the past week, MANEB has toured Umodzi Primary School in Zomba, Limbuli TDC in Mulanje, Chikwawa Secondary School, Mwanza Secondary School and Phalula CDSS in Balaka in the Southern Region.
In the Central Region, MANEB has visited New Era Boys Secondary School in Ntcheu, Umbwi Secondary School in Dedza, Ntchisi Secondary School Madisi Secondary School in Dowa, and is expected to visit Kasungu Teachers Training College this coming Friday.
According to Maganga, the activities are open to all candidates, teachers and interested individuals surrounding the venues.
Next week, MANEB is visiting Bandawe Secondary School in Nkhatabay, Rumphi Secondary School, Maghemo Secondary School in Karonga and Chitipa Secondary School.
According to MANEB Act, punishment for being found and convicted of cheating during national examinations is a MK50, 000 and two (2) years imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for candidates; and MK300, 000 and ten (10) years IHL for non-candidates.
MANEB is a parastatal, established by an Act of Parliament in 1987 to administer national examinations for purposes of certification, selection and placement.
An employee for Malawi Postal Corporations (MPC) Gibson Mgadamika, is currently under police custody in Lilongwe for allegedly using a forged Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) certificate.
[caption id="attachment_96481" align="alignright" width="425"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: We discovered through vetting process[/caption]
Mgadamika has been arrested together with his accomplice Samson Mweso, who actually forged the certificate.
The two were arrested on Tuesday following investigations by Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb) in conjunction with central region police.
Maneb Public Relations Manager, Simeon Maganga confirmed the arrest.
Maganga said Mgadamika was arrested for "holding" a forged certificate while Mweso is in custody for producing the said forged certificate.
Mweso owns a Photocopying Bureau at Lumbadzi Trading Centre. Meanwhile his computer has since been seized.
''We asked companies to send us their employees' certificates for vetting, and it was through such process when we discovered that details on Mgadamika's copy of certificate were not real. We then
instituted investigations,'' explained Maganga.
Mgadamika is said to have confessed during police interrogation that the MSCE certificate in his possession was forged.
According to information, it was Mweso who influenced Mgadamika- a holder of Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) certificate- to have a forged certificate.
Mgadamika is reported to have paid K1,500 for the certificate.
The two are expected to be charged with altering a false document contrary to Section 360 as read with Section 356 of the Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Maneb has called on employers and training institutions to always vet with the board certificates of their potential employees and potential students.
''Copies (photocopies) of the certificates could be sent to Maneb in person or through e-mail and we vet free of charge''.
Maganga pointed out that certificate vetting is very important as it allows only deserving candidates to secure places for either employment or school/training thereby contributing positively to
national development.
Another employee for Malawi Postal Corporations (MPC) and a driver for utility body, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) are currently under police custody for allegedly using forged Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) certificates.
[caption id="attachment_96481" align="alignright" width="425"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: Forget certificates detected[/caption]
Police in conjunction with Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb) arrested Giddiness Chaima, 30, who works as Office Assistant at Mzimba Post Office and Misheck Mikaya, 38, who works as a driver for Escom in Blantyre.
Chaima was arrested on 8th February while Mikaya was arrested on Friday after Maneb’s MSCE certificate vetting exercise exposed that the said certificates were forged.
According to Maneb Public Relations Manager Simeon Maganga, Chaima used the forged certificate to secure employment at the government-owned postal services provider, MPC.
“According to records, he wrote MSCE examination in 2002 and failed but now possesses a fake certificate that he used to secure a job at Malawi Postal Corporation,” explained Maganga.
Chaima appeared in court on Thursday, and is currently remanded to prison awaiting trial which starts on 17th February, 2016.
He has since engaged a lawyer from Legal Aid to represent him.
Chaima hails from Jiya village, T/A Somba in Blantyre while Mikaya hails from Kasungu district.
The two are expected to be charged with altering a false document contrary to Section 360 as read with Section 356 of the Penal Code.
In related development, two people who were arrested in Lilongwe over a forged MSCE certificate appeared in court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to forging a document.
The court has set 17th February, 2016 for sentencing. The two Gibson Mgadamika, 29, and Samson Mweso, 28, are still in police custody.
Mgadamika works as a Messenger at Lumbadzi Post Office while Mweso, who actually forged the certificate, owns a photocopying bureau at Lumbadzi trading centre.
The two were arrested on Tuesday 9th February, 2016 following investigations by Maneb in conjunction with central region police.
Mgadamika hails from Kalama Village, T/A Khomgoni in Lilongwe district while Mweso comes from Mungombwa Village, T/A Wasambo in Karonga district.
Mgadamika is said to have confessed during police interrogation that the MSCE certificate in his possession was forged.
According to information, it was Mweso who influenced Mgadamika- a holder of Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) certificate- to have a forged certificate.
Mgadamika is reported to have paid K1, 500 for the certificate.
Section 360 of Penal Code provides that any person who knowingly and fraudulently alters a false document shall be guilty of an offence of the same kind and shall be liable to the same punishment as if he had forged the thing in question.
And Section 356 provides for a maximum sentence of 3 years imprisonment for forgery.
Electricity Supply Corporation (Escom) employee is currently in police custody for allegedly using forged Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) and a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Electrical Engineering.
[caption id="attachment_96481" align="alignright" width="425"]Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Maganga: Forged certificates[/caption]
David Maluwa, who works as a Faults Operator at the Escom’s station in Lilongwe Old Town, was arrested on Thursday afternoon 25th February, 2016 in a joint operation by Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB), University of Malawi (Unima) and Malawi Police Service.
Maneb Public Relations Officer, Simeon Maganga told Nyasa Times, Muluwa is suspected to have forged and uttered a 2007 MSCE with six points and a 2013 BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Malawi (The Malawi Polytechnic).
“A search on the day of the arrest further showed that Mr. Maluwa had three other genuine certificates at MSCE level, one obtained in 1998, the ones in 2009 and 2013; and had a 1996 Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) but bearing the name Wyson William Kasauka,” explained Maganga.
Maluwa is expected to be arraigned in court on the count of forgery and uttering false documents, contrary to Section 360 of the Penal Code.
Meanwhile, law-enforcers’ investigations on the matter are currently underway.
Maluwa’s arrest comes hot on the heels of another arrest of Misheck Mikaya on similar charges earlier this month.
Mikaya, 38, who hails from Kasungu, worked as a driver and joined Escom in 2004 using a suspected
fake MSCE. The case is still in court.
Earlier this month, Maneb also arrested two employees from the Malawi Postal Corporation (MPC) a cleaner/messenger Gibson Mgadamika based at Lumbadzi Post Office in Lilongwe and Mzimba Post Office Assistant Giddiness Chaima on similar charges.
Further, Maneb arrested Samson Mweso, a Lumbadzi-based businessperson who assisted Mgadamika to forge the MSCE at his photocopying bureau.
Mgadamika and Mweso were convicted on their own plea of guilty and were sentenced to a suspended 18 months imprisonment with hard labour and a fine of K30, 000.
“Maneb would like to thank management of Escom and MPC for the corporation. Further, Maneb continues to appeal to companies (and training institutions) to be sending certificates of their employees (and students) for vetting so to eradicate forgery and uttering of false certificates,” added Maganga.
Ministry of Education Science and Technology has hailed Malawi National Examination Board (MANEB) for administering free leakage examination for the past two years and has since promised to continue engaging various stakeholders in ensuring that the board maintain its stand.
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MoEST Director of Secondary and Distance Education, Chikondano Mussa made the remarks at Chichiri secondary school in Blantyre on Wednesday when she presided over the official opening of MANEB annual review meeting.
The meeting which attracted different stakeholders including the officers from District Councils, Malawi Police Service and Education officials, was aimed at reviewing the 2015 examination administration at Primary School Leaving Certificate, Junior Certificate Examination and Malawi School Certificate of Education.
In addition, the meeting also focused on adopting best practices of curbing cheating malpractices.
Mussa commended stakeholders for their pivotal role they played in ensuring that there were no cheating malpractices during the 2014 and 2015 examinations despite encountering logistical challenges.
“We had a problem of transport to ferry examination papers to their respective centres, however this was sorted through the interventions by the District Councils and Chief Executive Officers.
“As such I must commend all stakeholders for their efforts in ensuring that for past two consecutive years, Maneb administered free leakage examinations at all levels. This is our success story and we are happy for this,” said Mussa.
She further said the examination board is more than prepared to make sure that all the requirements for smooth administration of the examinations are in order.
“We are aware that examinations are around the corner and i can ably say that we are almost done with every stage in as far as administration of examination is concerned. This is starting from registration of candidates, preparations of papers and choosing invigilators among others.
“In terms of logistics, we will continue working in collaboration with relevant authorities such as the DCs and CEOs so that they mobilise resources at district level to ensure that there is transport to ferry examination papers in time,” she said.
The Director therefore appealed to the public to guard against any cheating malpractice saying: “this will not only uphold the examination’s dignity but also Malawi as whole.”
Commenting on the same, Blantyre District Council Charles Kalemba said will continue working in collaboration with Maneb to make that examinations are received, protected and also written in secured manner run through the process of writing securely and also be able to transport them in respective centres.
“We will continue to ensure that examinations are run through the process of writing securely and are also transported to their respective centres.
“This meeting will therefore help us to share our experiences, learn lessons so that we can also do best in this year and years to come,” he said.
For the past years, Maneb has been marred with cheating malpractices among candidates and teachers, a situation that lowered education standard especially to JCE and MSCE holders.
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The benefits of abolishing JCE by far outweigh the cost of maintaining it. Those that are unhappy with the abolition have very good reasons and arguments, but what they are missing is that, what we benefit, even in terms of value, from JCE as a nation must substantially surpass the cost that our poor government annually invests in the Examinations.
And it is also highly imperative to consider the actual tradeoffs of spending hundreds of millions of tax on JCE, when we cannot afford decent salaries of the teachers, medicine, medical and educational facilities, etc, whose value outweighs JCE. Our economy is going through a delicate situation which needs serious fiscal thinking and proper prioritization.
I would like also to commend government for reviewing and raising tuition and boarding fees for public educational institutions and eliminating scholarships for tertiary institutions. This is a very brilliant fiscally sound and convenient decision.
It does not make sense for one of the poorest countries on earth, to be spending huge subsidies for public services. In as much as public services must be subsidized, this must be done with utmost caution and prudent calculations to avoid choking the growth of the economy as have always been the case.
Infact, government must seriously consider introducing some fees for public hospitals and clinics too. These are bold decisions that must be despite consequent political controversy which is inevitable when such decisions are made. Otherwise, how does a poor country finance huge subsidies? It does not make any economic sense, unless we are thinking politics.
However, government must also ensure that corruption and unnecessary spending are not tolerated at all levels and departments of government. Otherwise, the resources that will be saved through the new fiscal initiatives, will only end up in the pockets of selfish government employees and the elite of the ruling party.
So, come on Mutharika and DPP, fear and refrain from corruption and the systematic stealing of government resources through meaningless spending like taking more than 100 people for a UN General Assembly.
