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Malawi is a landlocked nation that shares its borders with Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia. About the size of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania or 118,484 square miles in area, Malawi straddles Africa's third largest inland lake, Lake Malawi. Large plateaus, about 4,100 feet high, and mountains, roughly 8,200 feet in height, dominate much of the landscape. In 2001, Malawi's population…
The 1966 Malawi Constitution does not specifically mention education.
The Ministry of Education has oversight responsibility and sets academic standards for all schools in Malawi. This includes primary, secondary, technical schools, teacher training institutes, agricultural colleges, correspondence colleges, business schools, polytechnic institutes, and the university. The university and Polytechnic Institute are in fact autonomous, but tradition now dictates that t…
Malawi makes no provision for preprimary education. Primary schools can be found in many villages and hamlets throughout Malawi. In 1970, there were approximately 2,000 primary schools that accommodated about 35 percent of primary school aged youth. About 12 percent of all primary school students attended private, predominantly church run schools. This percentage declined as the government took ov…
As the cornerstone of economic development and entry into the modern sector of the economy, secondary education is very important in Malawi. Secondary education developed late in Malawi, as little effort or expense was devoted to it throughout the colonial era. The year before independence there were only 3,000 secondary school openings in the entire nation, and only 4 of the 17 secondary schools …
All higher education in Malawi is ultimately controlled by the University of Malawi, which was founded in 1964. The university is located in Zomba, Malawi's former capital, which is now a university town. The vice chancellor and registrar run the university. The president is the chancellor, which is purely a ceremonial office. There are four constituent colleges, each of which has its own r…
Education that prepares adults for specialized roles in the economy or on the job training is involved in non-formal education, as do general education outreach programs, adult literacy campaigns, and education on health and hygiene. The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources offers courses leading to certificates in forestry, fisheries, veterinary assistants training, agricultural extensio…
The Ministry of Education develops the curriculums used in Malawi's schools. They also oversee teacher training. Teachers take both pedagogical and academic courses. Supervised practice teaching is expected before gaining control of ones own classroom. Most teachers begin as primary school teachers in a demonstration school adjacent to teacher training facilities. Later, block teaching is t…
Despite many problems, Malawi's population is growing fast, and the long years of colonial oppression and oppression by the Banda regime have ended. A population hungry for basic education is finally receiving it since primary education is for the first time free and compulsory. Much work still remains to be done in terms of improving the quality of the primary schools and the education tha…
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