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Maneb to have digital registration system

The Malawi National Examination Board on Wednesday received over 20 computers worth over K17 million from Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (Macra) for its Information Communication Technology (ICT) project aimed at promoting efficiency and reducing irregularities in the administration of examinations.

Speaking after receiving the computers, Maneb executive director Gerald Chiunda hinted that the board plans to roll out the project which is to replace the current manual system of registering students’ names in the next academic calendar.

Chiunda (left) receiving one of the computers from Msusa

“There are so many irregularities in the current system whereby everything is done manually; it has resulted in increased cases of errors on the nominal rolls including misinformation on students’ records as well as embezzlement of examination fees by some school administrators,” said Chiunda.

He disclosed that this year alone, 15 private schools have been reported to have embezzled registration and examination fees for candidates subjecting students to emotional torture as they cannot sit for national examinations in that predicament.

Chiunda further said the computers will be distributed to 20 district education managers (DEMs) where students will be able to go and upload their information in regard to examinations.

“The students will then be given reference numbers that will enable them to log in and pay their examination fees direct to Maneb, register their names for examination, get their examination numbers or even check their examination results,” he explained.

Communications manager for Macra Clara Mwafulirwa said the authority is committed to promoting efficiencies in ICT.

“We are partners with Maneb in this project, we want to build its capacity by providing reliable ICT equipment to enable the board achieve its objectives,” said Mwafulirwa.

Director of postal services for Macra Liza Msusa pledged continued assistance to its fellow parastatal organisation so that it is able to create more points where students could go and access the ICT services.

Commenting on the examination papers flying around on social media, the Maneb executive director said his office has come across what he called false papers and compared them with the ones in their systems “but they are not even closer to what we have.”

“We thank all involved in implementing security measures to ensure there are no exam leakages. We engaged the police to do intelligence analysis and everything is on track. In addition, to avoid inaccuracy all invigilators were paid not later than June 12, way before the examinations commenced,” said Chiunda.

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