Maneb hailed for zero exam leakage

Civil Society Education Coalition (Csec) and Independent Schools Association of Malawi (Isama) say it is not too late for Malawi to rewrite the ugly story on integrity and credibility of results of examinations administered by the Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb).

The two bodies said this yesterday in separate interviews in reaction to revelations that Maneb has achieved zero examination leakage in the 2014 national examinations which ended last week.

According to Maneb spokesperson Simeon Maganga, the examination body consulted stakeholders in the education system to come up with a security system implemented during the 2014 examinations.

“We have been working tirelessly to curb examination malpractices and this year we adopted a system that keeps away examination papers from the police. Our research and consultations with stakeholders exposed that the police were playing a hand in leaking the examinations,” said Maganga.

He added that the police were not allowed to handle the papers and examinations were kept at teachers development centres (TDCs) and taken to schools by supervisors under the security of the police.

“Maneb has achieved zero examination leakage in 2014 and we registered very few cases of examination irregularities compared to previous years,” said Maganga.

Csec executive director Benedicto Kondowe commended Maneb for the efforts and cautioned the board not to relax.

Isam president Joseph Patel advised Maneb to adopt the new system in the coming years.

“It seems the system is practical and secure. We urge Maneb to adopt it for good,” said Patel.