MANEB criticised over decision to suspend provision of some of its essential services
As Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) will be administering the 2024 national examinations starting on Wednesday, May 22-24 with Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE), provision of some services will be temporarily suspended from today May 20 till July 19.
A statement from MANEB’s Executive Director, Dorothy Nampota notifies the public that the services will stay suspended till the conclusion of Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) from June 4-13 and Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) from July 2-26.
Thus, provision of some services that will be temporarily suspended from today include certificate replacement; certificate by accumulation; certificate upgrading; verification & authentication of certificates; equating of certificates; notification results slips and international & local academic transcripts, whose services will resume on July 22.
Reacting to this decision, Chifipa Mhango — the revered Chief Economist for South Africa-based Don Consultancy Group — says he find the decision “very disturbing”, adding: “To begin with, no Government service should be closed because of another service offering.
“Services such as verification and authentication of certificates has serious implications for those who are looking for a job be it locally or internationally. Now imagine your job offer being delayed because such a service has been closed by MANEB.
“Surely MANEB should look at increasing capacity during this time even if it means seeking short term three months contracts employment to beef up capacity.
“This does not reflect well on Government administration functions in Malawi. Any Government function should be customer & client-oriented and focused.
“Decisions should be guided by the impact they have on society and not just self inward approach. Consultation with all stakeholders in decision making is part of good governance process.
“Here MANEB has failed in its approach,” he stressed while recommending a review of the decision by the MANEB administration or responsible Minister of Education.
“A further question I have is whether this was the case in the previous years — if not, then why now or this year 2024? Imagine a doctor or a teacher that needs to be employed, and the institution has to wait three months to verify qualifications — what will that do to health and education services. Do we think like that?”
On its official Facebook page where the notification was published, Fortune Chapingamanazuba concurred with Mhango in her response, saying: “You cannot suspend operations — leave skeleton staff to be managing that.
“Otherwise, a public office cannot stop offering services; other people’s lives can and should not come to a standstill because exams are being administered. That is very silly and unheard of”.
Godfrey Mfuni also agreed that such an important office should close saying: “This is not right — so the whole office is going out ku ‘field’ to administer exams? Exam time should not be an opportunity to send everyone ku the field for the sake of allowances.”
Charles Pandipanadya alluded that administration of examinations have specific period while other services are everyday operations, adding: “It’s like pandemic and epidemic — you first deal ndi pandemic then epidemic. Kudos Dr Nampota. Kudziwa management kuposa Tonse Alliance pamenepa.”
A report published by Zodiak Online also had reactions to it agreeing with the observation by Chifipa Mhango and those on MANEB Facebook page with Dunstan Chunda describing the situation as very sad: “No wonder, we ain’t developing with such decisions — allowances have been prioritized. A very sad development.”
Victor T. Kumwenda said “that’s Malawi of today, no wonder”, with Jacob Matomola sneering that “being Malawian isn’t a joke these days — it seems government departments are suffocating” while Patricia Mgomezulu wondered that “60 years after independence an office is failing to multitask”.
Fortune Chiku Banda was of the observation that the notification was supposed to be released earlier to the public, to which Dolly Daniel agreed, saying: “It’s unfair you would tell the public two days before the administration of the exams.”
She added that it was MANEB was in an emergency mode as if it is the first time to manage examinations: “Will soonly take an injuction for the sake of teaching you.”
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