JCE exams start tomorrow, over 143 000 candidates register

At least 143 134 candidates are expected to sit the two-week Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) examinations which start tomorrow to Friday, June 10 .

This year’s JCE examinations, to be administered by Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb), will be the last following government’s decision last year to have them abolished as part of President Peter Mutharika’s reforms in the education sector.

Speaking in a telephone interview yesterday, Maneb spokesperson Simeon Maganga said all is set as examination papers and all relevant documents were sent to all the districts.

He said the board already delivered all the candidates’ identity cards (IDs) to all districts in the country to ensure all registered candidates gain access to examination rooms without problems.

“Our monitors have already left to various districts in the country to monitor smooth administration of the examinations. However, we are not working alone in ensuring the smooth administration as various stakeholders are complementing our efforts in ensuring the exams are credible,” said Maganga.

He added that Maneb is working with district commissioners (DCs) who are going to provide transportation for the papers in all districts.

In 2014, some JCE examinations papers were transferred to cluster centres using bicycle taxis (kabaza), a development which was condemned by stakeholders, including Maneb itself.

At that time, investigations by The Nation established that examination papers were transported using bicycle taxis from all the five holding centres—Nkhoma, Ching’ombe, Ndemani, Mitundu and Chankhande—in Lilongwe to distribution centres. The minimum distance from holding centres to distribution centres was estimated to be five kilometres.

Last year, 170 000 candidates registered for the JCE examinations but only 134 490 sat the examinations.