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| Malawi Facts Education Since the democratically elected government came to power in 1994 Primary school fees have been abolished and government spending on education has increased. This has demonstrated that such moves can have a significant impact on access to education for the poor. However, questions remain over the quality of the education offered [for a report from the UK Institute of Development Studies on Free Primary Education [FPE] in Malawi click here] and the ability of the educational system to cope. Classes of a hundred plus and shift systems to accommodate all the pupils in the available buildings are common. The poor state and inadequate number of existing buildings and the scarcity of teachers have made it almost impossible to deal with the great influx of children. A further problem is the AIDS pandemic which has decimated the teaching profession as it has most others in recent years. There is a significant fall-out of both sexes before reaching the top class of Primary though FPE has helped increase the number of girls completing Primary school. However, the enrolment rate for girls lags behind boys regardless of economic class and girls from poorer households are very unlikely to be in secondary education. There are eight classes or standards in Primary school and a child must pass an examination at the end of each year before progressing. This has always led to frequent 'repeating', hence pupils may remain in Primary school to an age when those in most countries would have completed the secondary stage. A basic syllabus in Agriculture, Health & Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Integrated Science, Religion, English and Chichewa (the main local language) is followed. All teaching is supposedly in English from standard five upwards as English is the first official language of the country and all higher education, government and official documents use it. Sometimes Art, Music and Physical Education are included in the curriculum if there are resources and teaching staff for them. Places in secondary school are allocated on the results of the Standard eight examination. The number of secondary schools is far below what is required and only 5-8% of pupils are chosen. Some will return to Primary school and try again though this is now being discouraged so the age of entry is dropping slightly but is still likely to be in the late teens. A Government secondary school may be National (having students allocated from a wide area) or District (serving only the administrative district in which it is situated). Almost all are largely or entirely boarding since public transport is inadequate to bring students in daily. Most church schools are National schools and, like the government ones, they have their students allocated to them, being allowed to give places to only a small proportion of their own denomination. All students pay fees at secondary school - at present about £30-£40 a term. This is very little to provide food and teaching resources but many families find it difficult to produce. However, if a girl or boy is 'selected' every effort is made by members of the extended family to find the fees. There are some grants made by local authorities, and orphans may receive help from special projects. Uniform is required and, increasingly, charges are made for maintenance, books and health care. Church secondary schools are grant-aided: the school keeps the fees paid by students and receives a government grant to top up the total. All expenses then have to be paid out of this. Teachers are paid by Government and often provided with housing on the school site, for which rent is deducted from their salary. Except in towns, it would be impossible for teachers to find their own accommodation near the school. The supply of housing is however insufficient for the demand. The secondary course is four years, covering a similar range of subjects to those taught in Primary school with separate sciences, French, Home Economics and Technical subjects. All teaching and examinations are in English. The Junior Certificate is taken at the end of two years and must be passed before continuing with year three. At the end of year four, students sit the examinations for the Malawi Certificate of Secondary Education. On the results of this, selection is made for university, teacher training, medical school, agricultural college, registered nurse training and some diploma courses in fields such as business studies. Fees are now payable for university and other courses for which official selection is made and these may be beyond the means of some who could profit from them. The proportion selected is probably under 5% of those who took the examination so many students are left with just a basic school certificate - about the level of G.C.S.E - and have to find a further course of training if they wish for some more specialist qualification. Such courses are usually expensive. More on education in Malawi MACS newsletter February 2003Details of how education struggles on in the face of AIDS, teacher shortages and under-funding. | |
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