Introduction

The Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC), an umbrella body of 84 local and international organizations that advocate for the right to education wishes to make resounding observations on the Government’s decision to abolish the Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) among many other reforms that are currently underway. Our impressions and opinion are based on the historical evolution of JCE in Malawi, global trends and the timeliness and efficacy of the said reform.

 

 

Historical evolution of JCE in Malawi

For non-starters, CSEC observes that the abolition of JCE in Malawi is not new on the scene as the examinations were once scrapped off in early 1960s. For three years examination were not conducted arguably based on the same justifications i.e. cost implication and relevance of the certificates. In fact, at that time and in a similar fashion, the decision was politically driven and took no cognizance of the preconditions that were obtaining in order to support and achieve the intention of the reform. The question that CSEC is grappling with today is whether Government had been able to draw some lessons from the failure of the same move in early 1960s. In addition, another study was done in 2004 under the Student Testing and Assessment Reform which also recommended abolition of JCE but went further to highlight a number of considerations that could make this reform effective.  It is however, apparent that Government has deliberately chosen to pay a blind eye to our earlier experience in view of the manner in which the reform has been decided upon. It is undoubtedly clear that big as the reform is, no consultations have been done in order to iron out the bottlenecks that made this reform once a failure.

 

Global Trends as Regards the Status of JCE

Globally, there has been a shift towards having one national examination at secondary education and this has been the practice in Finland and many other Scandinavian as well as European countries. The compelling factor here has been the belief that school based assessment are more effective than national examinations. In accord with their ambitions, such countries have developed robust continuous assessment systems which are further supported by reformed school curriculum. Understandably so, the teacher: pupil ratio has been very manageable as one of the preconditions for an effective school -based assessments. This means that continuous assessment works well where classes are small. Malawi’s prescribed target of 60 students per teacher as a book ratio is already far from the ideal for such a reform. To make the matter worse, the reality is that we have a teacher: pupil ratio that exceed 100 in most schools. It is in this regard that it was essential to plan for processes that would fill in the gap created by abolishing the national examination.

 

Efficacy of the Reform within the Broad Spectrum of Education System

It is crystal clear that our education system is not efficient as characterized by high dropout and repetition and low completion rates. While only 30% of students matriculate to secondary school, very few pass JCE and MSCE. The 2015 pass rate for JCE has been 67.8%. This decision therefore means that we will have a million of Malawians who will go up the ladder to form 4 merely draining tax payers’ money. Countries that do not have an equivalent of JCE are the ones with negligible dropout rates which is however not the case with Malawi. This is compounded by the fact that the current school –based assessment in secondary school is a night mare and almost unattainable. Teachers rarely conduct continuous assessments due to big class sizes and poor teaching and learning environment. This is a reality check for Malawi.

 

Speed and Volume of the Reforms

CSEC strongly observes that there have been too many reforms within a space of one month. These among others include: the secondary school curriculum, national educational standards, review of school fees for secondary schools, Domasi College and TTCs. While reforms are necessary to stir quality and competitiveness of the sector, the many simultaneous changes might potentially send a shockwave through the education system, and thereby, paralyses the sector in the process. CSEC is of the opinion that there is lack of focus and strategic direction by Government to take care of all the salient issues that could make this reform work. Instead, Government is careless enough in discharging its duty to lead reforms for the betterment of its people. We propose that these reforms should be implemented in phases to allow for an orderly change management process.  

 

Economic versus Quality Education Consideration of the Reform

The Government has categorically stated in its statement that the decision to abolish the JCE has been necessitated by the prevailing economic environment as well as the fact that JCE certificates have lost value on the job market. While reforms are unavoidable in the current context, there is a great risk that economic factors could relegate quality consideration which in our view should be at the centre of education reform. There is no clarity and assurance that the projected saving of MK2 billion will in any case be used to improve quality because traditionally we know that these are the savings that are used to support other politically driven initiatives. 

In addition, the claim that JCE has lost its value as it is not demanded by employers though real presupposes that education is only for employment. Although it is undeniable that employment is one of the aims of education, focusing strictly on employment dilutes the very broad purpose of education. The purpose of education is to prepare the students be strive and contribute positively to their society. Therefore, the current message has the potential to erode seriousness among the students, teachers and parents. This might be irreparable, and sufficient basis for sustained low hardworking spirit among learners and teachers. It is therefore, evident that Government has not shown that the reform is intended to improve quality rather than being purely an economic saving measure, and this is a bad signal to the sector and the nation. While change is inevitable in an evolving society, real change is one that unbundles and perfects the challenges. 

 

Paradox about National Examinations

There appears to be a consensus that examinations influence teaching and learning. They become self-reinforcing as they have the potential to keep the teachers and students on their toes. It is this that encourages some teachers and learners to work hard. However, in the absence of JCE, there is a proposal for continuous assessments which was once rejected by MANEB in 2004 for reasons to do with security and reliability. The truth of the matter is that continuous assessment is not easy to meaningfully conduct in order to achieve the intent that examinations serve. Studies done across the globe reveal that continuous assessments are hampered by large classes, weak monitoring and supervision and inadequate teaching and learning resources. The need for well trained teachers, and adequate resources for such a reform to succeed cannot be overemphasized. It is for this reason that unless resources are made available for addressing the identified challenges and making the conditions more conducive to continuous assessment, the nation may be heading for disaster. So far, as observed before, CSEC doubts if the saving to be made will be redirected to improving the effectiveness of the reform and indeed the quality of education over all.

 

Conclusion and Recommendations

While CSEC is not opposed to the intention of the reform, we are however opposed to the timing and manner in which this reform is implemented. The basis for implementing this reform, in its current format, is purely economical and political. No consideration has so far been carefully examined as to what we are going to replace with, and how the anticipated bottlenecks will be addressed. This is exemplified by the fact that while government is rolling out this reform, MANEB’s circular for 2016 examination fees is still including those for JCE. The current scenario shows not only lack of coordination and shared vision but it is also a sign that the decision lacks support from technicians.

 

CSEC is aware that the decision has been politically imposed as most technicians vehemently opposed its immediate implementation without proper planning. This, in our view, provides a weak base for a successful reform, and Government must tread carefully on its intentions. We are of the opinion that this reform should have started somewhere unlike the way it has been handled. Removing the examinations without a careful and deliberate process could create a vacuum that could paralyze the system. We needed to carefully examine the preconditions for such a reform and ensure that the potential challenges are addressed. To this end, CSEC would like to make the following recommendations:

1. That the President should immediately stop the abolition of JCE examination amidst the many grey areas that require proper reflection and redress to make this reform work. There is need not to rush but rather examine efforts that can make this reform deliver its intentions which, unfortunately, have been completely ignored in favor of economic savings.
2. That the reform as a matter of good governance be subjected to public scrutiny. There is need to consult widely all relevant stakeholders ranging from students, teachers, parents, academia and other stakeholders. 
3. That there is need for in-depth re-visitation of the models that were suggested by assessment experts  way back in 2004 while at the same time reflecting on the shortfalls of the abolition of JCE in early 1960s and other workable models that countries that have abolished an equivalent of JCE have adopted. 
4. That future decisions on social sectors should not only be based on economic consideration as is the case herein but rather take full cognizance of the quest for quality services. It is our considered view that Government could possibly make savings from cement and iron sheets subsidy than place education on life support machine. Government could be solving fewer problems while creating many problems if no steps are taken to prepare for this reform in terms of systems to strengthen continuous assessment.