Machinga Secondary Ordered to Refund Illegal Exam Fees

School authorities at Machinga Secondary School have been directed to refund money collected from Form Two learners after the Ministry of Education confirmed the charges violated Malawi’s Free Secondary Education policy.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Lily Kampani, said investigations found that the school charged K20,500 per learner for this year’s Junior Certificate of Education examinations, despite government policy prohibiting such fees in public secondary schools.

Parents raised complaints after being asked to pay the money, arguing the charges contradicted the recently introduced Free Secondary Education programme.

Kampani acknowledged that the funds were collected and described the move by the school’s management as inconsistent with government policy.

She said authorities have since instructed the school to return all the money to affected learners.

“Although some of the funds were raised before the official circular operationalising the policy was issued, no school was permitted to continue charging learners once the policy came into effect,” she said.

The ministry has reiterated its commitment to enforcing the Free Secondary Education policy across all public secondary schools and has called on parents and guardians to report similar incidents to enable swift action.