By Burnett Munthali
The first eight years of education in Malawi are compulsory. Children enter primary school at age 6 where the first four years of teaching are in a local traditional language. Thereafter, the medium of education shifts to English for the balance of the Malawi education program.
However, according to my findings on the ground, all the eight years of teaching and learning are in a local traditional language in almost all public schools except for Demonstration Schools in Teacher’s Training Colleges. Therefore, the medium of education still remains vernacular for the whole of Malawi Primary education program.
Malawi has an 8-4-4 education system consisting of primary school (8 years), secondary school (4 years) and university education (4 years).
For most people in Malawi, primary education is the highest level of education they will achieve. As a result, primary education is an essential aspect of community life in Malawi, and is critical to the development of Malawi as a whole.
Interestingly, the education system in Malawi during the one party era was of high standard because a standard 8 pupil of that time could understand, speak, read and write clearly.
The Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examination is the final examination at secondary school level in Malawi.
It is quite disappointing that most students who complete their Form 4 nowadays can hardly understand, speak, read and write their thoughts and ideas.
Self expression is a great challenge as I have come across funny and heartbreaking application letters and curriculum vitae.
All this is attributed to poor foundation stages in primary education.
Doctoral degree. The top of the academic degree hierarchy, a doctoral degree represents the most in-depth education within a discipline. Upon completion of a rigorous program, doctoral students are designated as authoritative experts in their field.
Malawian pupils’ learning results are some of the lowest in the region: The high repetition rate (22.7 per cent in 2019) and low primary school survival rate (58 per cent in 2019) are alarming.
According to International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) standard, basic education comprises primary education (first stage of basic education) and lower secondary education (second stage).
It also covers a wide variety of non-formal and informal public and private activities intended to meet the basic learning needs of people of all ages.
What is the education and literacy in Malawi? For adult men, the literacy rate is 73% and for women it is 59%. Literacy is generally worse amongst older adults than amongst younger people. The youth literacy rate (literacy amongst people age 15-24) in Malawi is 75%.
However, according to recent research in 2022, Rumphi is the top district by literacy rate in Malawi according to the latest literacy rate findings.
The upper secondary completion rate is very low (4 per cent), especially for poor households (less than 1 per cent for children living in households in the first three wealth quantiles). The dropout rate of girls in secondary education increased from 6.4 per cent in 2020 to 9.5 per cent in 2021.
