Despite the papers being sold on the market days before the exams, it has been alleged that the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) had to scale down the passing mark for the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) to accommodate many other students who had failed.

Reports indicate that even though there was a heavy exam leakage, candidates performed badly forcing the exam body to have the pass mark lowered.

Not only was the pass mark lowered. It was even lowered to a smaller grade in some subjects, 12 %, whereas in other subjects the average of 22 % was used as the passing mark.

An examiner at MANEB opting for anonymity backed up the claims that show how educational standards in the country have dwindled.

When the leakage of the exams was reported, some quarters called for the re-administration of the examinations but government denied claiming it would be a costly exercise and the exam was not re-administered.