By Abel Ikiloni

Blantyre, November 17, Mana: Blantyre District Council has awarded teachers from zones in rural areas for producing good results in the 2023/2024 Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education Examinations (PSLCE).

District Commissioner for Blantyre, Alex Mdooko, presided over the award ceremony to schools from Blantyre rural zones where 24 of them registered a 100 percent pass rate.

On position one is Nansengwe Primary School and Chigodi 2 Primary School and the best zone is Madziabango and best zone on national and district secondary school selection is Lunzu Zone.

Each of the best performing school and zone went away with K150,000 cash prize. 

In his remarks, Mdooko expressed gratitude to Standard Bank and United Civil Servants Saving and Credit Cooperative for the financial support towards the activity.

Mdooko said the event is a testament to the fact that education remains the pillar of the country’s development.

He commended the district education office for championing the cause, adding that such efforts will never go unnoticed.  

“You have been instrumental in shaping the future of our children, guiding them to achieve the PSLCE,” he said.

He observed that people had gathered to celebrate the success which had been achieved amid challenges, noting that the achievements had proved that education remains key to unlocking opportunities in life.

Mdooko advised teachers to continue working hard and avoid being complacent, saying “It is essential that we support our teachers with resources and further training to motivate them to do more.”

Blantyre District Education Information Systems Officer, Elson Edwin Kamanje, in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), said the day was set aside to celebrate success registered in the 2023/2024 PLSCE.

“Overall, 7218 learners sat for the exams out of whom 6205 passed representing 85.97 percent. Out of 3416 male candidates who sat for the exams, 3069 passed representing 90 percent pass rate while 3802 female candidates wrote the exams with 3136 passing representing 82 percent pass rate,” he said.

According to Kamanje, out of 175 examination centres, 100 scored 86 percent and above on national/district average and out of 88 centres, 29 scored 100 percent and out of 29 centres 24 are public schools and five are private schools.

Kamanje said for the special needs education candidates, out of 71 who sat for exams, 36 passed representing 51 percent pass rate.

Kamanje expressed worry that over 156 learners did not sit for the exams presenting such reasons ranging from flimsy to early pregnancies as well as early marriages.  

“This year, we want to engage communities so that we can minimize challenges experienced last year,” he said.

The best Primary Education Advisor (PEA) for Madziabango Zone, Robert Bonya, expressed happiness for maintaining first position for three consecutive years, attributing the achievement to effective communication existing among teachers and communities in the zone.  

Bonya pledged to continue working towards increasing the number learners selected to boarding secondary schools.  

In a separate interview PEA for Lunzu, Loveness Pendame, whose zone was recognized for its feat of sending more learners to district and national secondary schools disclosed that they conduct regular continuous assessments besides not resting after learners have sat for the PLSCE.