Civil society organisations in the education sector have recommended the abolition of the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations, which are administered by the Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb).
This came to light Monday when Edukans Executive Director Limbani Nsapato presented the Education Sector contributions during the 2025-26 pre-budget consultations held in Lilongwe by Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda.
Nsapato said that, as things stand, the PSLCE has no value and that Maneb is wasting too much money administering these examinations.
“Why should we waste too much money on something that has no value?” he queried.
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According to Nsapato, if one looks at the PSLCE examination results, on average, 83 percent of learners pass, with many schools achieving even 100 percent.
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“What does this mean? It means that when students complete Standard 8, they have sufficient skills to proceed to secondary school.
“So, what we need is a system of continuous assessment that will monitor the progress of the pupils. Additionally, what other countries are doing is administering aptitude tests after five years to check whether the learners are still acquiring the relevant skills,” he said.
Nsapato added that when it comes to selection for secondary school, the system could be decentralised, allowing education authorities at district level to administer aptitude tests, similar to how private schools admit students to Form 1.
Nsapato further said that many students are unable to sit for the PSLCE examinations due to an inability to pay the examination fees, as they come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
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Maneb spokesperson Angela Kashitigu said yesterday that the Ministry of Basic Education was better placed to comment on the matter, as Maneb administers the examinations on behalf of the ministry.
When contacted, Ministry of Basic Education spokesperson Mphatso Nkuonera asked for more time before commenting on the matter.
Yesterday, Citizens for Justice and Equality proposed an increase in taxation on beer, cigarettes, fake fingernails and fake eyelashes, arguing that these products are not benefitting the children of Malawi.
The organisation’s Publicity Secretary Agape Khombe said the government should use the revenue generated to pay examination fees for needy children.
In 2015, Malawi stopped printing PSLCE certificates to save costs as part of the Public Service Reform Programme.
In the same year, Malawi abolished the Junior Certificate of Education examinations, arguing that the certificate had lost its value, before reintroducing it in 2020.
