The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) is informing the general public that it will administer the 2025 national examinations from 21^st May to 25^th July 2025 as follows:

    i.        Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations from 21^st to 23^rd May 2025. 

   ii.        Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) examinations from 3^rd to 12^th June 2025.

iii.        Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations from 1^st to 25^th July 2025.

The following activities have been carried out in preparation for the administration of the 2025 examinations.

REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES

Registration of candidates was successfully conducted from 23^rd September to 31^st December 2024.

Registration and payment of examination fees were done online, through the MANEB e-Registration and e-Payment systems. MANEB approved examination centres, have access to online portals through which they register candidates, generate invoices and confirm examination fees payments made by candidates.   Registration of a student is completed upon payment of examination fees contributions.    

Payment of examination fees for the 2025 examinations was done using mobile money and banking platforms which include; TNM Mpamba, Airtel Money, National Bank Mo626, NBS Eazy Bank, Standard Bank Unayo, First Capital Bank and FDH Digital Banking. The responsibility of paying examination fees was entirely left to the guardians or candidates themselves. Once payment was received in MANEB account, a student was reflected as a paid candidate in the portal. Nominal rolls for the candidates were also accessed online through the school portals from 14^th January 2025.

The number of candidates that registered to sit for the examinations in 2025 are as follows;

Similar to 2023 and 2024, more female candidates have registered to sit for PSLCE and JCE examinations than male candidates. The trend has also been the same for MSCE where more male candidates register and sit for the examinations as compared to female candidates. Compared to 2024, there has been an increase in the total number of candidates registered to sit for examination from 611,144 to 626,038 representing over a 2 percent increase in the total number of candidates registered.

INTERFACE MEETINGS WITH STAKEHOLDERS

MANEB has held interface meetings with different stakeholders in preparation for the administration of 2025 examinations. These include the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, all education divisions (Northern, Central East, Central West, South West, South East and Shire Highlands), state security agencies (Malawi Defence Force and Malawi Police Service), Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM), Malawi Secondary School Head Association (MASSHA), Independent Schools Association of Malawi (ISAMA), and Secondary School Teachers Union (SESTU). During these interface meetings, experiences from the 2024 examinations and plans for the administration of 2025 examinations were shared.  

 SECURITY OF EXAMINATIONS

MANEB will continue to work with the state security agencies, Malawi Defence Force (MDF) and Malawi Police Service (MPS). MDF and MPS will undertake their mutually agreed roles as follows: MDF secures all examinations storage facilities while MPS provides security in all examination centres. In 2024, a three-year Memoranda of Understandings, running from 2024 to 2026, were signed between MANEB and MDF, and MANEB and MPS.

BRIEFING OF EXAMINATIONS ADMINISTRATORS

Prior to the commencement of examinations, briefing sessions for examination administrators will be conducted through a cascade model. This will ensure that the administrators are able to apply the same set standards in order to achieve equity in the handling of examinations and candidates. The examination administrators include Examination Centre Supervisors, Invigilators, Primary Education Advisors (PEAs), MDF and MPS Officers.  The examination administrators will be provided with terms of reference during the briefing sessions.

HANDLING OF SCIENCE PRACTICAL EXAMINATIONS

MANEB has sent the list of items for science practical examinations to enable schools procure the materials before examinations. In this regard, schools are prohibited from procuring these items a day before the practical examinations. Confidential instructions for the practical examinations will be collected from the examination distribution centres on the day of examinations between 6:00AM and 7:00AM. To ensure security of the examinations, subject teachers that are tasked with preparing for practical examinations are not allowed to have mobile phones at the time of preparation for the practical examinations.

PROVISIONS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CANDIDATES

Identification of Special Needs Candidates was done by schools with details of the candidates captured during the registration process. MANEB has made the following special provisions for specific categories of special needs candidates:

    i.        Users of braille will be provided with braille printed examinations. They will be allocated a separate room from the rest of the candidates with special invigilators. The candidates will be given additional time (1/5 of the time allocated to a paper).

   ii.        Low vision candidates will be provided with large print papers. They will write their examinations in the same room as regular candidates and they will not be given additional time since they are already aided with large print papers

 iii.        Candidates with special physical disabilities, affecting their limbs, will be examined orally.  A scriber and an Invigilator will be assigned to each of such candidates to support them throughout the examinations.

  INNOVATIONS

In 2025, MANEB is extending the electronic payment of allowances to all 34 education districts. This is following the successful piloting of the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) in the Central West Education Division, Shire Highlands Education Division, and Mwanza and Thyolo districts.  This is in an effort to uphold accountability in the management of public resources and increase efficiency in operations. This means, all examination administrators, including examination centre supervisors and invigilators, will receive their allowances directly through their respective bank accounts.

MONITORING ADMINISTRATION OF EXAMINATIONS

MANEB will have Country Coordinator, Regional and District Coordinators to monitor administration of the 2025 examinations countrywide. Other stakeholders will also participate in the monitoring exercise to ensure continued track of administering leakage free examinations. Such stakeholders will be supplied with identity cards or letters of permission.

CONCLUSION 

MANEB is grateful to government for providing the necessary resources for the administration of the 2025 examinations and for supporting all activities related to national examinations. MANEB also appreciates the roles that all examination administrators, security officers and the general public play in the administration of examinations.  The public should be assured that MANEB has put in place all necessary security measures to ensure credible examinations. MANEB is encouraging all Malawians of good will to report all cases of suspected examinations malpractice during the examinations period to their nearest Police Station or through the MANEB Toll Free line on 363 which is available for TNM Networks.