Police in Blantyre have arrested the Principal and Vice Principal for Bedir International Schools for allegedly issuing fake diplomas and certificates to their students, contrary to the country’s laws.
The Police raided the school after the Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb) received a query from a Government Institute of Netherlands, which wanted to verify a qualification that Bedir had issued to one of its former students in order secure a university place in Netherlands.
According Maneb Executive Director Gerald Chiunda, it is only MANEB that is mandated to administer examinations and issues qualifications in the country.
“A Government Institute of Netherlands wanted us to verify a diploma level certificate that Bedir had issued to one of its former students in order to secure a university place in Netherlands.
“So, apparently the Institute knew that for Malawi, it is only Maneb that issues qualifications for secondary school students. So they requested us to verify and that gave us a clue that Bedir, indeed, has been operating that illegal scheme.
“When we went to Bedir Schools, we learnt that they were issuing diplomas and certificates to any of their former students irrespective of whether that particular student passed the examination or not, ” said Chiunda.
It is believed that the Vice Principal designed the software the school was using to produce the qualifications.
