President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi has ordered the sacking of top management for the National Examination Board (MANEB) over the mass leakage of final national secondary school exam papers.
The ministry of education announced the cancellation of the administration of the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exam on Wednesday after lengthy consultations with the Malawi Police Service (MPS) and MANEB on the matter.
The minister said the MSCE exam will be written in March to allow thorough preparations and security measures.
But President Chakwera made a special address to the nation on the matter and he ordered the dismissal of the top management at MANEB, among other things.
“To have several secondary schools exam papers leaked and the education of hundreds of thousands of students thrown off course is simply unacceptable.
“ I am giving the Malawi National Examination Board until the end of this month to remove the top management of MANEB, on account of this gross failure, and replace it with a new team that will conduct the most credible examinations Malawi has ever had, which must be done not later than January,’’ said Chakwera.
Chakwera has also put all controlling officers for all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies on notice that if they do not perform productively by the end of the year, they will be fired.
“This is the new Malawi, and in this country, no one will be allowed to continue wasting time and resources on activities that produce no tangible results. You either get with the new program or get out of the way,’’ said the Malawi leader.
Form 4 candidates who were sitting for the exam were reported to have clashed with police in some towns and cities across the country on Wednesday in protest to the cancellation of the exam.
Meanwhile, the Malawi police have made about 40 arrests in connection with the leakage of soft copies of the MSCE exam papers.