RUSTENBURG - Malawi’s examination board has instituted investigations after several test papers for the School Certificate of Education were leaked, local media reported.
According to news website Malawi24, examinations started last week and some papers have been circulating on social media platforms. Leaked papers for English and Biology turned out to be exact copies of those set by the Malawi National Examinations Board.
Board spokesperson Mayamiko Chiwaya told the media that the papers started circulating while students were already sitting for the exams nationwide and the leakage would therefore not affect the results.
The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation reported that the examination board was looking for the source of the leakage.
Radio station Capital FM Malawi said pictures of the English Paper 1 exam had gone viral on social media platforms minutes before candidates sat for the paper.
According to Malawi 24, reports suggested that teachers in the capital Lilongwe had been arrested over the scam.
Times 360 Malawi posted on its Twitter account that police sources in Lilongwe had confirmed the arrest of three students from Kabwabwa Community secondary school on Monday, after they were found discussing the agriculture theory paper.
Social commentator Onjezani Kenani posted on Facebook that the examinations had lost credibility, according to Malawi24.
He said the leakage would affect children in rural areas who used paraffin lamps to study, had no access to the WhatsApp messaging app and would therefore not have had access to the leaked exam papers.
A brief statement from the ministry of education appealed for calm pending the outcome of an emergency meeting of the Malawi National Examinations Board scheduled for Tuesday afternoon to map the way forward.