Nine Catholic Secondary Schools in the country have made it into the top ten (10) schools of the 2023 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) results based on percentage of candidates with distinctions.
This is according to the results released on Wednesday September 13,2023 by Malawi National Examinations Board(MANEB) in conjunction with Ministry of Education.
The schools are Marist Pvt Secondary (52.58%), St Kizito Secondary (45.83%), Mtendere Secondary (40.50%), Nankhunda Seminary (38.43%), St. Mary’s Secondary (37.92%), St. Patrick’s Seminary (36.73%),Pius XII Seminary (34.47%), Loyola Jesuit Secondary (31.40%) and Likuni Boys Secondary (30.71%).
Filling out the list is Dedza Secondary School with 35.16%.
Announcing the results at a press briefing in Lilongwe, MANEB Executive Director Professor Dorothy Nampota said out of the 154,132 who sat the 2023 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exams 83,846 have passed, representing a 54.40 percent pass rate.
Nampota said the 2023 pass rate is a decline of last year’s 58.44 percent.
Despite the examinations being leakage free, Nampota expressed concern that some schools have not done well with some registering zero percent pass rate.
She described the situation as worrisome and called on government to conduct an assessment to establish the cause and find possible solutions to address the situation.
On her part, Deputy Minister of Education, Nancy Chaola Mdooko said she was saddened with the decline in pass rate saying the situation needs an immediate response.
She said the ministry will conduct an assessment to establish the cause of the decline in pass rate most especially in those schools which have registered zero pass rate.
“My ministry is dedicated to improve quality of education in the country. We have seen that most CDSSs haven’t done well. The Ministry is constructing extra classrooms, information and communication laboratories, science laboratories to improve the quality of education in Malawi,” she said.
The District Health Office in Dowa has set a target of 422,105 children under 15 years of age to be vaccinated in Round 2 of Polio Vaccination campaign which starts in the district from 13th to 16th September, 2022 through door-to-door vaccinations.
In Round one of the Campaign, Dowa district recorded 107 percent children vaccinated, an achievement which does not come on a surprise.
Dowa has always been number one in vaccinations of children from poliovirus.
Speaking during the launch of Round 2 Campaign held at the District Hospital’s staff houses ground in the area of Traditional Authority Chiwere, District Medical Officer (DMO) for Dowa Dr. Ronald Mhango, said Dowa has for four consecutive times doing good in the vaccination campaigns as compared to the other districts of the country.
Dr. Mhango said it is the wish of the District Health Office to reach out to all children under 15 years of age saying polio is a very dangerous disease which is characterized by fever, sore throats and paralysis of limbs making a person to become crippled.
He said his office has sent messages of sensitization to all churches, schools, Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) to see to it that no one is left behind in the polio vaccination campaign adding that the launch itself has made others to know the importance of vaccinating children.
“We are hopeful that the district will vaccinate children to reach 100 percent as has been the case with other previous polio vaccination campaigns,” said Dr. Mhango.
Speaking earlier, Senior Chief Chiwere called on his subjects to civic educate one another on the importance of vaccinating children with poliovirus vaccine to make each and every child health, Dowa health and the country health.
Chief Chiwere assured the communities that chiefs will work hand in hand with the health personnel so that the Campaign is implemented in the interest of all warning parents and guardians who restrain their children from vaccinations that the by-laws and security officers will be at their door steps.
“Children have the right to receive health care and this should not be hampered by religious beliefs,” he said.
And in his remarks, Vice Chairperson for Dowa District Council Councilor Samuel Chikaphula, appealed to the communities in the district to make sure that all children under 15 years of age have received polio vaccines saying it is the wish of government to reach out to all children in Malawi.
The polio vaccination Campaign is being organized countrywide with support from UNICEF and WHO in response to polio outbreaks which was reported in some districts of the country such as Phalombe, Mulanje, Lilongwe and Blantyre, these districts have been registering cases since February, 2022.
First Lady Madame Monica Chakwera has been crowned Malawi Tuberculosis (TB) Champion, a move that is aimed at alleviating the vice by the year 2030.
Madame Chakwera has been appointed to the new role on Wednesday 13th September 2023 during a meeting with the National TB and Leprosy Elimination Program (NTLEP), PARADISO TB Patients Trust and the National Organization of Nurses and Midwives.
Just like many other countries across the globe, Malawi is implementing the End TB Strategy which aims at ensuring reduction in number of TB deaths compared with 2015, reduction in TB incidence rate compared with 2015, among others.
As TB champion, the first lady is expected to lead the country’s efforts in mobilizing financial resources towards TB, fighting stigma and discrimination towards TB affected populations, advocate for better nutrition for TB patients, advocate for multisectoral participation as well as promoting community engagement in the fight against TB.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Program Manager for NTLEP Dr. James Mpunga said crowning the first lady as TB Champion signifies a huge milestone in the country’s efforts towards ending TB by 2030 and also a strong demonstration at the highest level of the country’s commitment to end TB.
He added that they are humbled by Madame Chakwera’s interest in ensuring that the glaring gender disparities that exist in TB response as well as stigma and discrimination are alleviated.
TB remains the biggest cause of death among people living with HIV. In Malawi the TB / HIV coinfection remains high at 45 percent.
Sami Sohail has a T20I average of 72.5 and is now trying to help his club in Eckington, Derbyshire avoid relegation
When batting for Eckington Cricket Club as the club’s overseas professional, Sami Sohail has often been asked where he is from.
“I say, ‘I’m from Malawi’,” Sohail recalls. “They were like ‘where is Malawi’? I said ‘in Africa’. They were like ‘ah somewhere in South Africa.’ I said ‘no, Malawi is a different country.’
“Whoever you tell you come from Malawi they’re like, is it South Africa?’ Players don’t even know where Malawi is. That really annoys me because we’re an international team.”
Malawian Cricketer Sami Sohail
For all the geographical ignorance of opponents in the Derbyshire League, their surprise at encountering a Malawian opponent is understandable. Sohail, who is 21, might well be the first Malawi cricketer ever recruited to be an overseas professional in English club cricket. To understand why, just glance at the records for the top Twenty20 international averages. Just above Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and India’s superstar Virat Kohli is Sohail: in 26 matches, he has an average of 72.50 for Malawi.
“It’s a privilege and an honour to be amongst the top in the world,” Sohail says. “People are looking at the stats – there’s someone from Malawi who has done this.”
These deeds helped Sohail to become one of club cricket’s unlikeliest overseas players. Last year, Sohail visited family in the USA, timing his trip to coincide with trials for Minor League Cricket. He was selected for the Chicago Tigers in the competition, where he impressed some South African professionals, who then recommended him to an agent.
“He told me that it’s very surprising a club approaching a player from Malawi,” Sohail recalls. “They have opportunities to get players from all over the world. Choosing a play from Malawi is a great thing for the nation
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity. I really want other Malawians to follow this trend and I hope I’m motivating them – if you work hard and believe in yourself, all of us can get overseas contracts and represent our country.”
And so Sohail has spent the summer playing and coaching in the village of Eckington while living at the club chairman’s house 10 miles north, in Sheffield. “You’d not really see in club cricket a player from Malawi,” says Nathan Musselwhite, Eckington’s first-team captain. “All that mattered to me was the kind of person Sami was. From the conversations we had he was a great guy and wanted to come over to do his best for the team. He stood out with his love for the game and general positivity – as soon as I spoke to him over the phone, I thought he was our man.”
While he inherited a love of the game from his parents, who hail from Pakistan, Sohail is emphatically a product of Malawi cricket. He moved to Lilongwe, the capital, aged three when his parents set up a grocery shop and restaurant there. Sohail learned to play the game with family and friends, especially the country’s South Asian community, at a private school in the city.
“It all started at school with friends who were interested in cricket,” he recalls, “Pretty much every day after school we used to hang out at the local club and play cricket: tennis ball, hardball, whatever.”
Sohail honed his game playing for clubs in Malawi. His performances led to him having trials with the national team and then making his Malawi debut aged 16.
From 2019, full international status was extended to all T20 matches between nations, giving greater profile to the feats of Associate players. “That was just motivation for us,” Sohail says. “We want to see Cricket Malawi on the cricketing map.”
With interest in the sport developing in Malawi, Sohail earns a living from his cricket academy in Lilongwe; in between matches in Derbyshire, he is doing his ECB level two coaching course. “More schools are introducing cricket,” he says. “I’ve been getting lots of youngsters, who are interested in making a career in cricket.”
Sohail’s ultimate dream is to help Malawi make it to the world stage: “in a few years we could be playing the T20 World Cup”. Regional qualification tournaments as well as the Africa Cup T20 – a new competition launched by the Africa Cricket Association and Corcom Media Ventures – reflect the growth in live streaming of Associate cricket and have allowed Sohail to build his remarkable international record.
District Commissioner (DC) for Chitipa, McMillan Magomero has described late Raphael Berlin David Mulungu, who was buried on Wednesday in the district, as a developmental conscious man.
Mulungu who hailed from Kapoka Village in the area of Senior Chief Mwenemisuku in the district was the first Member of Parliament (MP) for Chitipa East from 1976 to 1986, under Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
He died on Tuesday at Chitipa District Hospital after a short illness.
In his eulogy, Magomero said late Mulungu was a man who wished his community well and championed various developments in the area.
Magomero then called on the community members to emulate the good example set by the late Mulungu.
Incumbent MP for Chitipa East, who is also MCP Regional Chairperson for North North Region, Kezzie Msukwa echoed Magomero`s sentiments, saying Mulungu was a father and an advisor to everyone.
“Honourable Raphael Mulungu was a pillar in the Malawi Congress Party as he remained loyal to the party. He was a disciplined man, development conscious, and advisor to many including me,” he said.
African International Church Vestry Chairman, Kondwerani Panja described Mulungu as a God fearing man as he was dedicated to the work of God.
“We have lost a dedicated member in the church. He contributed a lot of things such as planks for church construction, tables, chairs but also encouraged the paying of one tenth to the church,” Panja said.
Born November 14th, 1939 (Aged 84), Raphael Berlin David Mulungu is survived by two wives, 16 children, 39 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
