MSCE exam abscondment worries deputy minister
Deputy Minister of Education Madalitso Wirima has raised concern over the rate of abscondment among candidates sitting this year’s Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations.
She said this on Friday after visiting three centres in Dowa and Lilongwe.
The deputy minister said she was shocked to learn that 30 candidates at Dzaleka Community Day Secondary School, 22 at Nazarene Examination Centre and 15 at Lilongwe Teachers Training College had absconded a mathematics paper.
Said Wirima: “No! This is not right. How can so many candidates abscond an exam after preparing for it for two years? I think we need to engage parents to help us check if their children are really reporting for school as required.”
She said there is a belief among students that mathematics and sciences are difficult subjects.
But during briefings, Wirima learnt that abscondment has characterised all examinations.
Said the deputy minister: “This situation is beyond the perception candidates have towards mathematics and sciences because I am told it has been like that for all subjects. We have to dig deeper.”
She, however, said administration of this year’s examinations has been smooth because of tight security provided by the Malawi Police Service and the Malawi Defense Force.
In an interview, Civil Society Education Coalition executive director Benedicto Kondowe confirmed that abscondment has been a common trend nationwide and he attributed it to lack of proper preparation due to Covid-19.
He said: “I think most of the work was not covered or was partially covered due to the Covid-19 disturbance. As such, many candidates are nervous to sit the exams.”
Kondowe said stakeholders led by government should work towards improving the quality of education by improving teachers’ welfare to motivate them.
The number of candidates sitting for the 2021 MSCE has dropped from 154 147 in 2020 to 128 969.
The examinations started on October 26 and will end on November 18 2021.
The major hiccup in this year’s MSCE were stormy rains last Monday which damaged school blocks in the middle of an English paper and scripts for 171 students in Lilongwe.
The Malawi National Examinations Board has since pledged to administer a differed English examination to the affected candidates.
