By Pemphero Malimba:
The Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb) has terminated contracts for some temporary examination script checkers who were part of the team involved in marking this year’s Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations.
The marking exercise is underway in marking centres across the country.
The Daily Times has learned that at Stella Maris Maneb marking centre in Blantyre, the board has terminated contracts for 12 checkers, 14 days after the board embarked on the exercise.
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One of the affected checkers, Ephraim Milanzi, told The Daily Times that Maneb had terminated the contracts without providing any explanation.
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“Our contracts [whose documents are in our possession] were for the entire examination exercises but we were just told to vacate our marking centre without any explanation.
“We were informed [that we had] to fill contract termination forms but when we went to Maneb officers, they refused to give us the forms [so that we could] sign them,” Milanzi said.
He said the board had only paid them their daily allowances for a period of 14 days.
“We are waiting for the board to pay us our wages which, according to the contract, were valued at K90,000. But we remain with the question: Why have our contracts been terminated?” he said.
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Another marker based in Zomba said she had, indeed, been told that her contract had been terminated.
“There was no reason given,” the marker said.
When contacted, Maneb spokesperson Angella Kashitigu confirmed that some contracts had been terminated.
“We are going towards the end of the marking process. So, because the workload is now easy to handle, we decided to lay off some of them because they will have nothing to do and also being that the contracts were done on a daily basis,” Kashitigu said.
She said the termination of the contracts had also affected checkers in other centres across the country.
“I don’t have a specific figure [to ascertain the number of checkers whose contracts have been terminated as well],” she said.
Commenting on the development, Civil Society Education Coalition Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe expressed concern over the development.
“The termination of the contracts during the MSCE marking exercise raises concerns about the management and transparency of the process. It indicates potential issues with the communication and planning, particularly regarding compensation and contractual obligations,” Kondowe said.
He said the development had the potential to impact negatively on the outcome of the examinations.
“These circumstances could lead to delays in the release of examination results, compromised quality of the marking process and diminished trust in the examination system. It may also affect the morale of those involved in the exercise.
“Maneb should engage in negotiations with teachers and the auditors [temporary examination script checkers] to address their concerns proactively,” he said.
This comes barely a month after the examination marking exercise faced a strike by some teachers, who demanded a pay hike.
