Maneb over the moon over leakage free exams: Pays disgruntled invigilators
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.
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.
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Congratulations MANEB even for timely releasing of PSLCE results. It made life simpler for us whose children were anxiously waiting for them. Keep up the good work!
Do not be over-exited. However, we salute u. Invigilators and markers (ochonga mayeso) must be chosen on rotational basis. How come one teacher with over 20 yrs experience has never been called to mark exams?
Mwinadi akunena zoona koma yaaaa