By Lyte Ali

Mangochi, May 22, Mana: Deputy Minister of Education, Nancy Chaola Mdooko has urged invigilators and learners sitting for this year's Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations to maintain integrity to ensure smooth proceeding of the examination.

She made the call in Mangochi during the inspection of PSLCE examinations at St Charles Lwanga and Makawa Primary Schools.

Mdooko expressed hope that this year’s PSLCE examinations would go without issues considering how the examination started in the two schools on Wednesday as well as signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on security issues between the Ministry of Education and law enforcers that include Malawi Defence Force and Malawi Police Service.

"The examinations as for now have started on a good note country wide and l believe that this year's examination will progress very well without disturbances comparing to last year when the country was hit by Tropical Cyclone Freddy," the Deputy Minister added.

She said total number of learners siting for PSLCE examinations country wide is over 260, 000, representing a decrease of 5 percent comparing to last year which saw a total figure of 276 000 learners sitting for the examinations.

Mdooko said was satisfactory with the progress that Mangochi District made as the number of girls sitting for the examinations was higher compared to other districts.

Mangochi District Council’s Chief Education Officer, Rabson Kawalala thanked the Minister for touring PSLCE examination centres in the district, saying this testified that all examinations stakeholders worked towards successful administration of the examinations.

“A total of 8,593 candidates are sitting for PSLCE examination in Mangochi, where 4,714 are girls while 3,879 are boys with a notable decrease comparing to 2023 exams where the total number of candidates was 11,261,” he added.

Kawalala hailed stakeholders in the district for supporting government’s Re-admission Policy and other interventions implemented by Mangochi District Council in ensuring that girls are sent back to school.

He added that the Re-admission Policy and council’s initiatives resulted into an increase in girls sitting for this year’s PSLCE examinations.

Kawalala urged parents and guardians to send their male children to school as most of the boys in the district opt for fishing as well as travelling to South Africa hence the decrease of male candidates in the district.