Education in Malawi: Unusual Facts That Might Surprise You

Education in Malawi: Unusual Facts That Might Surprise You

Education in Africa is a work in progress in most countries. It is so as the majority of this continent is still developing. Malawi has taken great strides to improve both the equity and quality of education provided. It is doing so by building infrastructure and reviewing the previous curriculum.

The 90s marked a significant turning point for this country’s educational sector, and things have been looking up since then. There are some unique characteristics of how Malawi education system works due to the pertinent problems specific to this region. Here are some unusual facts that might surprise you about education in Malawi.

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Available college courses

Malawi has a wide variety of college and university courses as well as vocational studies. Some of the most popular courses include education since there is a huge demand for teachers. Agriculture and nursing are other popular college and university courses that students opt for. A very interesting fact is that Malawi also offers medical university studies.

Medical studies are available in Blantyre, with a Polytechnic university in the same vicinity. This is an interesting fact because other neighboring countries depend on Cuba for medical studies. There are a couple of universities in Malawi offering students a variety when choosing to further their studies.

English literacy rates

Despite the advancement of education in Malawi, English literacy rates are dangerously low. In Africa, this is not much of a shocker. It is because even seemingly developed countries have low English literacy rates. But, Malawi is actively addressing the problem. It is doing so by offering reading and writing programs across the country. English literacy problems carry on even to higher education facilities. Some students prefer asking professional writers for assignment help online. As a student, you can also ask for assignment help from EduBirdie. EduBirdie experts provide the dissertation proposal writing help you need to improve your written assignment grades. With expert help from native writers, the learning process becomes easier and more interesting.

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CDSS Program

The Community Day Secondary School program is a unique platform. It helps high-risk students and troubled kids. This program is a 360-minute mandatory schooling program that students have to take if they are expelled or having trouble at school.

Each school’s oversight committee can make the decision to subdue any student to this program whenever needed. This is to help students remain in school. It helps them finish secondary school with tertiary education prospects. CDSS focuses primarily on problems students might be facing and tries to help the students integrate better at school.

Tertiary education enrollment rates

Tertiary education enrollment rates are very low. It is because most students tend to leave school within the first two phases of education, primary and secondary. The number of tertiary education students in the country is around 62,000. This places the enrollment rate at less than 1%.

Potential reasons for this could be related to low English literacy rates and the availability of physical labor. Some students opt to go straight to unskilled labor. They choose it instead of furthering their studies, impacting skilled labor statistics.

AMAA education program

Due to the high rate of women being secluded in key sectors due to stereotypes and cultural differences, Malawi’s education minister began the AMAA program. This was a joint program with the USAID to empower young women in the secondary school phase.

The program is focused on helping young women attain life skills and master challenging subjects such as science and math. Since these two subjects offer greater prospects of high-quality tertiary education, students that are part of it have better chances of studying science, engineering, or medicine in university.

Distance Education Centres 

Distance learning is most common in developed countries and is mostly used by the rich and famous. Malawi is changing the narrative by offering Distance Education Centres. Its aim is to further high-quality education equity. For some students, it is dangerous or exhausting to get to school.

To solve that issue, Distance Education Centres were established across the country. Students can enroll in this type of learning program if they live far from school or if there are hazards with going to and from campus. DECs also help disabled students or young ones with comorbidities.

In conclusion

Studying in Malawi from primary phase to tertiary is a slippery slope for many. Others repeat grades, and this discourages them and leads to dropping out. But the education department has set up some unique programs. With them, it is easier for students to improve themselves, leading to higher literacy rates. It is still a work in progress, but gradually Malawi will be up to world standards with their education sector.

Author’s Bio

Robert Griffith works as an online tutor for an online agency known for its high-quality tutoring to school and college-level students. He’s a powerful writer and editor known for his high-class coaching and writing skills. When not at work, he takes yoga classes, learns guitar and tries DIY woodwork.