Covid-19 Faulted For PSLCE Student Decline
Education and human rights experts have expressed concern with the decrease in the number of learners sitting for the Primary School Certificate of education which commenced yesterday.
On Tuesday, the Malawi National Examinations Board-MANEB announced a decrease in the number of candidates sitting for the Primary School Leaving Certificate examinations this year.
Ministry of education could not justify the cause of the decrease, saying an investigation will be instituted to establish the cause.
But education expert Benedicto Kondowe is not moved with the decline, attributing it to the Covid-19 pandemic which has left many students unprepared.
According to Kondowe, government needs to formulate policies which can safeguard the right to education during global calamities.
“We need to have strategies which can motivate and safeguard our children so that they can sit for any exams regardless of natural mishaps such as this one,” he said.
Concurring with Kondowe, Dr. Jessie Kabwila, human rights activist and education expert says the development is indicative of impacts of the covid-19 pandemic.
“This is not surprising and disheartening at the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic is really affecting us and this is just one of those indicators,” she said.
Standard 8 exams have commenced and according to MANEB, 281,329 candidates will sit for the examinations compared to last year's 302,985.
Last modified on Thursday, 09/09/2021
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