By Mwai Kumanda

Lilongwe, January 15, Mana: A education commentator, Limbani Nsapato, has asked government to consider abolishing examination fees saying it is one of the contributing factors to high dropout rate among learners, especially girls, in the country.

Nsapato made the call recently during 2025/2026 pre-budget consultative meeting in Lilongwe.

Minister of Finance, Simplex Chithyola Banda, is conducting the meeting in the country ahead of the budget meeting of parliament.

Nsapato cited failure by over 5,000 students to pay for the examination fee by the due date set by the Malawi Examination Board (MANEB) last year as a clear indication that examination fees is a big burden to students from poor families.

“Student are asked to pay examination fees in order to seat for MANEB examinations. We have noted that many are not able to do that; as a result they are restricted from writing examinations.

“Government should either cater for the fees or abolish it completely,” he said.

He asked government to consider abolishing Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) and Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) examinations completely because these certificates don’t have value anymore.

“As a country, we spend a lot of money for these examinations just to provide certificates with less value thereby straining our budget. I think we should just remain with Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) and use the continuous assessment to monitor performance of primary learners.

“The system could use decentralization allowing authorities at district level to do aptitude tests to select students to secondary school,” he said.

Alex Mandaliza, a parent with three children in school, welcomed the proposal to have examination fees abolished.

“The cost of examination can be stressful especially to those from low income background. Eliminating the fees would be a significant step towards promoting quality and accessibility in education as it will enable all students regardless of their financial background to pursue their academic goals,” he said.

In 2015, Malawi government abolished JCE and stopped printing of PSLCE to save cost as part of Public Service Reforms.