KUZIZILA UKU ANA AGONE KU POLICE ZOONA?

Four (4) students were recently arrested at Mikundi School in Mchinji for exchanging answers during an examination. According to Dorothy Nampota, Executive Director of the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB), the students were caught swapping papers while the exams were ongoing. She added that despite this incident, the examinations are generally progressing well, with 257,129 students nationwide sitting for the exams this year.

While maintaining exam integrity is undeniably important, the decision to arrest these young students raises serious concerns. Arresting minors over relatively minor infractions such as exchanging answers may be seen as an excessively harsh measure that risks criminalizing youthful mistakes rather than addressing the root causes.

Many education experts argue that exam malpractice among students often stems from immense pressure to perform, inadequate preparation, or lack of proper guidance, rather than outright intent to cheat. Resorting to arrests and legal action may instill fear and trauma, which could negatively affect the students’ mental health and their attitude towards education.

Moreover, punitive approaches like arrests do little to improve the education system or support vulnerable learners. Instead, Malawi’s education authorities should consider more rehabilitative and preventive strategies, such as counseling, awareness campaigns, and reforms that reduce undue exam pressure. Schools could also invest in better exam supervision and academic support programs.

In short, while safeguarding exam credibility is necessary, it is equally important to balance discipline with empathy. Treating minors as criminals for relatively small offenses risks alienating them and undermining efforts to nurture a supportive and inclusive learning environment.

(NOTE : THE CHILDREN IN THE PICTURE ARE FROM UGANDA JUST TO REPRESENT THE MALAWIAN CHILDREN THAT WE COULD’NT SHOW HERE DUE TO PRIVACY ISSUES ON CHILDREN)