The Malawi National Examination Board has said it gave correct data on MSCE examination results to the Ministry of Education upon request and cannot be held responsible for any reported manipulation of that data or presentation.
The comments follow civil society and Independent Schools Association of Malawi (Isama) condemnation of the statement which the Ministry of Education published on December 22, analysing the MSCE 2012 examinations results for students that scored from six to 15 points. The ministry later admitted the statement had anomalies.
Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb) spokesperson Gerald Chiunda said the board could not be held responsible or asked to apologise for an anomaly caused by the ministry, arguing Maneb provided the correct data of the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examination results for the past five years, including 2012, as requested by the ministry.
Said Chiunda: “It is not our issue; we cannot be accountable to any manipulation, if any, or presentation of results. The ministry wanted data for MSCE results for the past five years and we provided that. Whatever they did with that, it’s not our issue.”
The Sunday Times quoted the ministry’s spokesperson Lindiwe Chide as saying the file on the private secondary schools which government used was wrong as it was for 2011 MSCE examination results.
Education Minister Eunice Kazembe said in an interview on Wednesday the matter was being handled by Maneb.
The Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) has since accused government of doctoring the MSCE results to paint a rosy picture of the education sector and demanded an apology and release of correct results.
The coalition, in a statement dated December 31 2012, said it is saddened by revelations from the Ministry of Education that the 2012 MSCE results for some private schools had anomalies.
The coalition said it is convinced it was government’s ploy to doctor the results for reasons known to it.
The coalition said it was dismayed by government’s insistence that the results were right after Isama duly informed the ministry and Maneb that the names being announced on the radios and newspapers were not a true reflection of the 2012 MSCE results.
Isama also demanded an apology or the ministry risks a legal suit.
