By Vincent Gunde
Opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) prayers that the new government of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika should fail to implement Free Secondary Education (FSE) have failed and gone back to the sender.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has finally set the record straight responding to all the concerns raised by the public that with effect from 1st January, 2026 Examinations and Identity Card fees that MANEB charges to public school students for national examinations in secondary and primary schools are abolished.
In the statement released on 2nd January, 2026 signed by Secretary for Education, Science and Technology Dr. Ken Ndanga, the Ministry says School Development Fund (SDF) and other user fees are abolished, meaning that for students attending Day secondary schools are not expected to pay anything.
The statement says all Government Boarding secondary schools will continue to collect boarding fees as prescribed by the government until further notice saying open public secondary schools will continue to collect fees from students as prescribed by the Government until further notice.
It says all grant aided schools operating under the Association of Christian Educators in Malawi (ACEM) will continue to collect boarding fees ONLY while government provides School Development Fund (SDF) and other user fees through direct grants and other Recurrent transactions (ORT) which has already been paid in arrears up to December, 2025.
“Bursary providers will continue supporting students through paying of boarding fees and other entitlements,” reads the statement in part.
The Ministry has vowed to continue selecting students into public secondary schools based on merit and it is working on a four- year costed implementation plan to guide smooth implementation of FSE saying this will help it to achieve 100 percent transition from primary to secondary school.
It says for the time being, since enrolment is controlled through merit based selection, there will not be an immediate demand for more teachers in the schools saying the Ministry is working on a plan to recruit more teachers in the 2026/27 financial year to support double shifting that will be introduced in some schools in the 2026/27academic year to increase intake.
The Ministry has finally assured Malawians that it is committed to implement FSE whose sustainability depends on shared ownership between government and all stakeholders saying FSE will significantly advance Malawi’s human capital development as envisaged in the Malawi 2063 encouraging all stakeholders to support the implementation of Free Secondary Education (FSE).
