Shire Highlands 289 students.
Among the critiques is that the Northern Region was robbed despite performing better.
This was echoed and amplified by Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa who argued that the regional allocation of SR, 929; CR, 749 and NR, 182; proportion-wise: SR, 40%, CR, 50% and NR 10% is unfair because “while the Central Region has the lowest pass rate, it has the lion’s share in national secondary schools,” Nankhumwa said.
Put differently, the Central Region – Malawi Congress Party (MCP)’s base – has been favoured.
Secretary for Education Chikondano Mussa and her pals disagree.
Mussa: It was merit
“We would like to make it clear here that merit was the major determinant of selecting students to secondary schools,” she said, adding that the cut-off point for selecting boys into national secondary schools was 380 marks while that of selecting girls was 354 and that selection to district secondary schools also depended on proximity and economic considerations.