March 2008: Examinations Fees paid for all Standard 8, Form 2 and Form 4 students
Our Standard 8 class: 23 students are taking their Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination this year.
We just finished paying all examinations fees for our Standard 8, Form 2 and Form 4 students. School fees and examinations fees are the reasons why less than 10% of Malawian teenagers are able to attend secondary school. The Jacaranda school is actually the only school in Malawi that pays for such fees.

It is a huge effort on our part as the examinations fees reached a total amount of over $1,000. This comes on top of our regular expenses such as paying all teachers and headmaster's wages, buying ingredients for our daily food programs, paying the water and electricity bills, etc. But we are firmly determined to keep the Jacaranda school entirely free to all our students.

At the end of Standard 8 (which is the last class of Primary school in Malawi), students take the PSLCE, Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination: if they pass, they can in theory enter secondary school; practically, in order to attend a public secondary school, a student must be selected (10% are selected); but even if he is, he still has to pay school fees. Students who are not selected to go to public secondary school, can try and find a private secondary school. Again, if they cannot afford the fees, they are forced to drop out... So for orphans in Malawi, going to secondary school is almost impossible.

At the end of Form 2 (second year of secondary school), students take the JCE, Junior Certificate Examination. Last year, 70% of Jacaranda students passed their JCE, which is required to enter the next class, Form 3.

At the end of Form 4 (fourth and last year of secondary school), students take the MSCE, Malawi School Certificate of Education. It is a crucial examination: students must pass it to go to university or to enter private colleges. At the university level, students again face the same huge obstacle; the school fees. Only 5% of MSCE holders are selected to enter the university of Malawi; they must then still pay fees which are extremely expensive for people here; a minimum of $500 per year. Private colleges and schools also charge high fees, so the majority of students again drop out of school.

At the Jacaranda school, we are exploring ways to be able to "follow up" with the students who pass their MSCE. We would like to send them to university or private colleges, so they can become nurses, doctors, accountants, engineers, lawyers, etc.
Our Form 2 class: 29 students are taking their Junior Certificate Examination
Our 17 Form 4 students: they must pass the Malawi School Certificate of Education to have a chance to go to university and become nurses, doctors, engineers, teachers, etc.