Date Of Article: 8/1/2002
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Prisoners to write exams
By: Our Reporter
Inmates in the country’s prisons will for the first time ever write examinations prepared by the Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb) for all schools. Maneb Executive Director Mathews Matemba said yesterday in an interview that 17 candidates will sit for Junior Certificate Examinations (JCE) while 25 will take the Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations (PSLCE). Matemba said the candidates are from Chichiri Prison but will write their examinations at Zomba Central Prison which met the board’s requirements. “We carried out an assessment of both Chichiri and Zomba prisons. We settled for Zomba Prison because it has got a classroom which met our requirements,” said Matemba, adding that the board acted on a proposal from the prisons to consider administering examinations to inmates. “The examinations will be conducted normally,” said Matemba, pointing out all modalities for checking cheating will be in place. “We will have the usual invigilation and the prisons will be open to us for supervision.” Malawi Prisons spokesman Tobias Nowa said the candidates are attending classes at Chichiri Prison and they were taught by volunteer teachers serving prison terms for various crimes. “Some of the candidates are those that were arrested while they were at school,” said Nowa. “Some imprisoned teachers volunteered to run classes for fellow inmates interested to continue with their education while behind bars.” Nowa said that the inmates will be transferred from Chichiri to Zomba Prison when the examinations days approach. “We will transfer them in the normal way we move prisoners from one prison to another,” said Nowa. The examinations will be administered under the on-going prison reform programme as a pilot project which depending on the results is expected to be extended to other districts.
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