Readiness of Human Capital in Implementation of E-Marking of National Examinations in Malawi

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate readiness of the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) examiners’ in e-marking of national examinations and general use of technology with focus on their computer proficiency and perception. The study followed an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design and data was collected from sampled examiners through a questionnaire, a focus group discussion (FGD) and a computer proficiency assessment test. The findings show that over 90% of the participants had moderate to very high computer proficiency levels. The findings also show that both age and gender did not have any effect on the technology readiness index (TRI) of Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examiners but on Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examiners. The findings also indicate no effect of the examiners’ years of marking experience on their TRI. The distribution of examiners across TRI segments shows that the number of examiners increases with the increasing order of adoption propensity. In line with this, most examiners showed positive perception of e-marking of national examinations as well as moderate to very high computer proficiency level.