Government directs form four students back to school on 28 December, no fees payment

Government has directed that form four students should report back to school on 28th December and prepare for examinations at no cost.

Making the announcement through a press statement, government has provided one month as a preparation period for the students to re-seat for the examinations.

In the statement signed by Secretary for Education, Chikondano Mussa, the Ministry has however directed that no fees shall be demanded from the students claiming that they did not fully utilize their fees for term three.

The statement further says that government will shoulder the examination fees including costs for practical examinations.

Government has also directed that newly selected Form One students should report for Schools soon after Form four students finish their examinations.

On the continuing students, the ministry has advised all form 2, 3 and 4 students to report on 5th January, 2021, as earlier announced.

“The Ministry has therefore called upon all schools to strictly adhere and be in full compliance with these guidelines,” Mussa

Commenting on the development, President for Independent schools Association of Malawi ISAMA, Joseph Patel, admitted that they met with ministry officials to map the way forward on the re-sitting of the examinations.

On fees, Patel said “ISAMA demanded that parents would pay 50% of the fees but they negotiated to 20%.”

He however was quick to say that is going to meet ministry officials to clarify the point.

This year’s form four examinations were cancelled following evidence of massive leakage of many papers the students were sitting for at the time.