Teacher arrested for swindling exam fees in Mangochi
Teacher nabbed for swindling K850,000 from JCE, MSCE candidates, writes Cornelius Lupenga.
Mangochi, Malawi-Police at Masuku in Mangochi have nabbed 39-year-old teacher Michael Nkhata on allegations of swindling K850,000 from 20 Junior Certificate Examinations (JCE) and 20 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) candidates, respectively, writes Cornelius Lupenga.
This comes barely a fortnight after police in the district arrested two individuals for acquiring the Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations (PSLCE) examination fee.
According to Mangochi Police Station Public Relations Officer Inspector Amina Tepani Daudi, the teacher was assigned to assist Forms 2 and 4 candidates in paying examination fees through the e-payment system in January this year.
However, he failed to dispatch the funds he collected and instead diverted them for personal use.
"On May 25, 2023, the headteacher for Mkumba Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS), where the teacher works, discovered that 20 candidates were missing on the JCE subjects verification document sent by Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB)," she said.
Inspector Daudi also said the headteacher realised that the same number of candidates were not registered on the MSCE subject verification document that he requested in advance.
"The affected students regrettably will not be able to sit for this year's JCE and MSCE examinations, and MANEB has cited the lateness of the discovery as the reason for being unable to attend to the matter," Inspector Daudi said.
She said the suspect has since been charged with an offence of theft, which contravenes Section 278 of the penal code and will appear before the court next week.