2019/20 PSLCE EXAMINATION RESULTS AND FORM ONE SELECTION

Ministry of Education writes

PRESS STATEMENT

For immediate release
January, 10, 2021
Ministry of Education
Lilongwe

2019/20 PSLCE EXAMINATION RESULTS AND FORM ONE SELECTION

Background

1. On Monday 4th January 2021, the Ministry of Education issued a press release on the results of the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education examinations and student selection to secondary schools.
2. The press release highlighted the inequity of our education system, where only 84,497 children of the 225,387 that passed the exams were selected for secondary school, while the vast majority that passed, 140,440, cannot access secondary education due to a lack of secondary school places. The press release also indicated the huge cost and investment required in school construction, namely MK2.85 trillion, to double the current number of students that move from primary school to secondary school.
3. Since the release of the selection results by the Ministry of Education, there has been much speculation in the social media about the issue of the fairness of selection of the 1,860 students selected into National Secondary Schools. In particular, questions have arisen as to whether the ‘quota system’ remains in operation.
   Tonse Administration’s Commitment
4. The Tonse Government acknowledges and understands the concerns expressed in the light of the recently released PSLCE results.
5. The Tonse Government takes responsibility to address any inequalities present within the Education System. Many inequalities have been longstanding and result from the persistent under-investment, politicisation and maladministration of education in Malawi.

The Current Selection Process

6. It should be noted that selection is based ‘on merit’, based on the aggregate score of the top 5 PSLCE subjects (including English).
7. The Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations (PSLCE) are marked and graded by MANEB. The Ministry of Education, through the Directorates of Secondary Education, Inclusive Education, Basic Education and ICT, together with the Education Division selection teams, perform the selection to various secondary schools. Selecting students into secondary schools is done after MANEB finalizes processing of examinations to the level of awarding grades. At that point, a Technical Team from the Ministry goes to MANEB to collect a file of results for selection.

i. Students are selected to National Secondary schools from a national student merit list for boys and a national student merit list for girls. The cut-off score for selection for boys this year was 380. The cut-off score for girls was 354. Students are allocated to schools regardless of their home.

ii. For District Boarding Schools, district merit lists for boys and girls are drawn up such that only students from a given district are allocated to district boarding schools.

iii. For District Day Secondary Schools, students are allocated based on their feeder primary school being within 10km of the CDSS and thereafter based on merit.

iv. For Community Day Secondary Schools, students are allocated in a similar manner to District Day secondary schools, based on their feeder schools and thereafter based on merit.

Actions Undertaken in Response to Public Concern

8. In response to the concern expressed by the public about the 2019/20 PSLCE examinations and secondary school selection process and the disparity that exists within our education system, three immediate actions will be undertaken.

i. In view of the legal mandate of the Office of the Ombudsman under both the Constitution and the Ombudsman Act, an independent investigation / audit of the 2019/20 PSLCE examinations and secondary school selection will be carried out by the Office of the Ombudsman.

ii. An Independent Expert Group, including leading academics, will be convened to undertake a multi-year analysis of PSLCE examination results to determine the nature, extent and causes of inequities in PSLCE across the country,

iii. A Special Fund of MK1 Billion will be created, as a start, for infrastructure improvements to the Community Day Secondary Schools in greatest need of refurbishment and renovation.
Independent Audit of the Examination and Selection Process

9. The investigation / audit by the Office of the Ombudsman will review in detail the events and processes involved in the examination results and secondary school selection process of the 2019/20 school year.
10. The audit report is expected to be available within 4 months in time to ensure any appropriate changes can be made for future examination and selection processes.
11. The Ministry welcomes this audit by the Office of the Ombudsman and commits to respond to its findings and to implement its recommendations as soon as possible.

Multi-Year Analysis of PSLCE examination results

12. The analysis, by the Independent Expert Group, will review the issues affecting the inequities in performance more broadly than just through the selection process.
13. Given that the selection process has been merit-based, the large variation in performance across the country reflects a deep inequity of resources and service provision available between different primary schools, between different educational districts and between different educational divisions.
14. The examination selection process is the final stage of an eight-year long journey for a primary school student. The end performance is dependent on a variety of factors, including: the quality and adequacy of infrastructural environment provided; the quality of teaching provided; and the level of teaching and learning materials provided. All these aspects, and many more, impact on a child’s performance.
15. The analysis and resultant recommendations of the Independent Expert Group will guide future Ministry strategy to improve the equitable delivery of primary school education and the improved transition of students from primary to secondary education.
16. The Report is expected within 4 months, which will enable appropriate changes to be made in time for next year’s budget and next year’s round of selection.

Special Fund for Community Day Secondary School Refurbishment

17. In many cases, due to longstanding under-investment, many of our Form One students, especially in rural areas, are having to attend Community Day Secondary Schools of low quality.
18. In addition to the need for new schools, there is an urgent need for many schools to be refurbished. Most infrastructure programmes to date have been supported by external development partners. While very welcome, such resources are not always flexible and cannot be freely used for some national priorities. The MK1 Billion Special Fund will be national resources solely under the direction of the Malawi Government.
19. Schools in greatest need will be identified objectively based on a defined set of criteria and efforts will be made to maximise the number of schools that can benefit from the fund.

The Status of Selected Students

20. While the above actions are being undertaken and policy issues discussed, the children named and selected for secondary school need to know where they stand with respect to their future education. Any issues that may arise are not the fault of the children. Their individual selections will therefore stand.

Addressing Capacity Issues

21. In the meantime, while the Independent Audit, the Multi-Year Study and the utilisation of the MK1 billion Special Fund are under way, the Ministry will continue to address outstanding capacity gaps that afflict the Education Sector. The two major capacity gaps preventing the expansion of access to quality primary and secondary education are the lack of appropriate school infrastructure and the shortage of professionally qualified teachers.
22. On 23rd November, 2020, the Minister of Education signed an undertaking for a number of education sector reforms that address the above-mentioned capacity issues, among others. The Ministry is also developing short-, medium- and long-term strategies for future development that take education capacity issues into account.
23. Several projects are under way to address infrastructure in the short term. These include several projects

i. Under the US Government funded Secondary Education Expansion for Development project and World Bank financed Equity and Quality Learning at Secondary school project it is expected by the end of 2021 to have expanded the number of secondary school classrooms by 1,192, which will provide almost 60,000 new secondary school spaces.

ii. In addition, the Ministry is currently implementing a major US Government funded project to build 250 Community Day Secondary Schools by 2023, which are targeted to locations most in need of additional secondary school spaces. This construction will massively increase the capacity of Community Day Secondary Schools to accept primary school students who pass the PSLCE exams. So far, 16 schools have been completed and are in use and 30 schools are soon to be completed and handed over to the Ministry. By the end of 2021, 92 additional schools are expected to be completed. The total number of new spaces made available through this is 29,200. The Ministry, together with USAID, is committed to achieving this construction as quickly as possible, with minimal administrative delays.

24. A major commitment is also being made to increase the numbers of teachers and improve their qualifications so that there are more qualified teachers available to provide an improved education for our children.
25. A long-term objective for national development is that ALL students should attend a minimum of 12 years of formal schooling, eight at primary level and four at secondary level. This is highlighted in the upcoming ‘Malawi 2063’, which will be launched on 19th January 2021, by His Excellency the President, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera. In order to achieve this long-term objective, Government will ensure an annual commitment of resources for not just the construction of schools, but ensuring that existing schools have adequate learning materials and equipment as well as enough professionally trained teachers to meet the needs of an increased student population.
26. We are dealing with an inequitable system that has resulted from many years of neglect. It will take many years to fully address these issues. We present these actions as part of our initial plans to address these longstanding inequities.

Mandate of the Ministry of Education

27. The mandate of the Ministry of Education is to provide quality education to ALL children in Malawi.
28. We should not be working in a situation where providing one Malawian child with an education means that we are depriving another Malawian child of an education. Until we can say that all children are receiving a good education, we cannot be content that our job is done.
29. Where politicisation, self-interest and maladministration obstacles stand in the way of the Ministry of Education’s mandate, we will work tirelessly to overcome these obstacles.

Chikondano C. Mussa
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION