By Jarson Malowa, Witness Chipwere and Daniel Zimba:
The number of students registered to sit this year’s Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) examinations has increased by 7.52 percent.
Last year, a total of 154,504 candidates sat the examinations, while 166,123 are expected to sit this year’s JCE examinations, which began Tuesday across the country.
The Malawi National Examinations Board is administering the tests.
We visited Likangala Secondary School in Zomba Tuesday, where students appeared well prepared for the examinations.
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Fifteen-year-old Vanessa Hassan expressed confidence in her performance.
“Our teachers did their best for us. They reminded us of everything we had forgotten. Now the day has come and I am confident I will succeed,” Vanessa said.
A senior teacher at the school, McLoyd
Nkhambule Phiri, said everything began smoothly and was progressing well with their cohort of 325 candidates.
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In Mzuzu City, the examinations also started on a positive note with no reported challenges as of Tuesday.
At St Peter’s Private Secondary School, where 145 students are sitting the exams, the school’s supervisor, Lyton Mwandira, said students arrived on time and the examinations were administered according to schedule.
“The candidates have been given rules to follow during exams. We have guided them and instructed them to adhere strictly to the guidelines,” Mwandira said.
Similarly, at Katoto Secondary School, where 278 students are sitting the exams alongside 114 external candidates, no setbacks were recorded on the first day.
Katoto Secondary School supervisor George Chunga remained optimistic that the positive start would continue.
“We are here to assist them in writing their exams properly. They should be confident that they can handle the questions based on what they have learnt,” Chunga said.
In Blantyre City, the examinations also began on a positive note, with all candidates reported to have started the exams by 8am across various centres.
The Daily Times visited several centres, including Njamba Secondary and Njamba Community Day Secondary schools, where over 190 and 108 students respectively were recorded sitting the examinations.
Shammim Mwango, examination supervisor at Njamba Secondary School centre, said she was satisfied with the progress on the first day and expected smooth administration of the exams throughout.
Mwango commended the administrations of the schools whose students were writing at the centre for ensuring good discipline as observed on the first day of the examinations.
Meanwhile, Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima said Tueday that she was impressed with how the examinations had started.
Kambauwa Wirima spoke after inspecting Linthipe and Nthulu centres in Dedza, where she said no incidents had been reported so far.
