Maneb to decide fate of six teargassed MSCE candidates

The Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb) says it is yet to make a decision regarding six Chinamwali Private Secondary School students in Zomba who failed to sit for a Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) Mathematics Paper Two examination on Thursday last week.

This follows the commotion that ensued at the school after police fired teargas canisters while trying to disperse minibus operators who were holding demonstrations against government’s proposal to reduce the carrying capacity from three passengers per seat to two.

The teargas led to the collapse of four students who were also sitting for the same paper.

Maneb’s Publicist, Mayamiko Chiwaya, said on Monday that the board is waiting for an official report from the center supervisor on what really transpired.

Chiwaya said once the center supervisor presents a report, a technical working committee will be put in place to make a decision on the fate of the students.

“This is the committee which is instituted in order to give grades to the students. That’s the committee that will make a final decision on the fate of the six,” she said.

One of the victims, Sandra Kasongo, who fainted after the teargassing, has asked Maneb to just give them grades in relation to how they have performed in other subjects.

She said the situation will be tricky as re-siting for the same paper, will be like writing a past paper.

Kasongo added that if Maneb forms another paper only for them, it will be very unfortunate as this will be a purely different paper from what the rest of the candidates had sat for.

Commenting on the development, one of the country’s education experts, Benedicto Kondowe, has asked Maneb to act on the matter with the seriousness it deserves.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *