MALAWI ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY

HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN MALAWI

Unit 1

Education

Introduction

This unit introduces the concept of education and also discusses the types of education. Any
educational undertaking is supposed to be the driving force for personal and socio economic
development of any country. Education in this case is said to be relevant and hence justifies the
reason why it is given a priority. There are variations in how education is structured and organized.
Sometimes, education can take place in the home, villages or even at school. You might have used
the word ‘education’ in your day to day undertakings. How is education categorized in this case?

Success Criteria

By the end of this unit you are expected to:

• define education

• explain the types of education

• discuss characteristic (s) for each type of education

• identify agents of informal education

• describe the purpose (s) of informal education

Key terms: You are being reminded to make sure that you have comprehended the meaning of
the following terms before you start going through this unit:

• Education

• Informal education
 • Formal education

• Non formal education

Education

The wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after studying a particular subject matter or
experiencing life lesson that provide an understanding of something is referred to as education.
However, other scholars look at education from a different point of view.

Education is also defined as the ‘process of human learning by which knowledge is imparted,
faculties trained and skills developed (Farrant, 1986).’

Castle (1979:2) describes education as ‘what happens to us from the time we are born to the time
we die.’

On the other hand, Peters (1996) describes education as ‘the internal transmission of what is
worthwhile which may have intrinsic and extrinsic values.

Now that you have analysed these definitions, have you come up with your own definition? On the same,
are skills acquired from friends different from those accumulated from school? Notice that there are three
types of education namely:

• Informal

• Non formal

• Formal

Informal Education

This is the type of education which is not structured and it can take place in the home or elsewhere
in as long as the end result leads to acquiring of new knowledge and does not lead to certification.

Formal Education

This is the type of education which is structured and it takes place in classes, with well organized
curriculum and leads to certification.

According to Chakwera (2000), formal education is usually divided into three categories, by the
age of the student and the complexity of the information being taught. These categories can be
defined as follows.

• Primary education, also called elementary education, is education for younger children,
usually from 5 to 12 years of age, focusing on basic subjects such as social studies,
introductory sciences and maths, language and communication.
 • Secondary education is education for older children, usually from 13 to 18 years of age,
focusing on specific subjects in the sciences, maths, languages and humanities.
• Tertiary education, sometimes called post-secondary education, is the advanced level of
education offered by universities and colleges.

Non - formal Education

It is a type of education that lies between formal and non – formal education. These are short term
training undertakings aimed at imparting knowledge on a particular area. For instance, training
farmers for one month on new farming techniques could be an example. In this type of education,
a certificate of attendance may be issued at the end.

Informal Education in Malawi

Before the advent of formal education in Malawi, informal education was the locus of interest
across. It was a norm for parents to instill vocational, moral and spiritual knowledge to their folks.
In some societies, informal education happened in terms of age – sex structure whereby children
having reached puberty stage had to undergo through initiation ceremonies where elders imparted
new skills and knowledge on the initiates which were regarded as vital to their day to day life.
Such ceremonies are still happening to the present generation.

Exercise One

i Identify examples of informal education currently taking place in our societies in Malawi?

ii. What are the benefits of this type of education on an individual and society at large?

Agents of Informal Education

According to Chakwera et. al (2000), agents of informal education include:

• Peers

• Parents

• Community leaders
 Exercise Two

• Explain the role of peers in informal education?

• Do you agree with the view that peers are much more influential in informal
education than parents?

• To what extent do you agree with the notion that moral decay amongst the
youth in the present society can be attributed to peer influence?

You may have wondered why individuals and organizations fighting againt the HIV pandemic
use various strategies such as involving peers, parents and community leaders. What could be the
impact of such groups in awareness campaigns?

Case Study: Ngozo and his two boys

Having oriented his two folks to fishing, Ngozo decided to teach both Jacob and Zephtah
swimming. The two mastered these skills and later it became a norm for the two go for
swimming errands with friends. One day as they were coming from school, the river flooded
and the children had no option but to use every means at their disposal to cross the river.
Unfortunately, the other friends drowned and Jacob and Zephtah survived from the jaws of
marauding river.

Exercise Three

• To what extent would you agree with the view that states that informal education is
equally as good as formal education as demonstrated by the case study?

• Suggest why Ngozo opted to combine both informal and formal education to his
children?
1.3.2 Purpose of informal Education

Before the advent of formal education, parents, peers and community leaders made an effort to
make their young ones productive through traditional ways of learning. Why did they do this?

Informal education was offered to children because of the following reasons:

• To enforce a sense of belonging. This type of education passed traditions,

customs, beliefs and values to the members of a society, correspondingly,
instilling a sense of belonging to the members.

• To ensure continuity of beliefs, customs and values of the society. Informal

education was meant to pass the beliefs and values to the members who
would also do the same to the next generation.

• To enforce stability and social cohesion. There was emphasis on obedience

and conformity so that the members could be tied together. Chakwera et. al
(2000) adds that members of a particular society were expected to behave in
the same manner.

• To acquaint members with survival skills. Vocational and technical skills

were imparted to help members make ends meet. For instance, mat making,
catching fish and brick making skills could be imparted to children.

Methods of Imparting Knowledge in informal Education

Peer Influence

Children learn new ways of various undertakings by associating with their

friends.

Imitation

Children sometimes copy new behaviors and way of doing things after
watching others. This approach enables the children to acquire hands on
experience.

Story Telling

Stories, jokes, proverbs and folk tales are some of the ways through which
elders used in passing knowledge to young ones.

Initiation Rites
 Some societies organized initiation rites which were meant to help children
who attained puberty. Up to date these practices are being cherished in
some settings.

1.3.3 Advantages of informal education

There are a number of advantages which were derived from informal education and they could
even be applicable to the present generation:

• Behavior was controlled since conformity was heavily emphasized.

As such anybody doing own way was labeled deviant.

• The education prepared children for survival because immediate

needs were responded to accordingly.

• It was not involving as there was no need for financial resources as

an exchange for the job well done.

On the other hand, informal education had the following disadvantages:

• Individual talents were suppressed as emphasis was on conformity

and anything outside was not tolerated.

• Little room for creativity, innovations and conformity slowed down

development.

• An initiate from one culture could not fit into another culture even
from the same region since there was no uniformity

Summary
You have learnt the different forms of education and analyzed why informal education was
practiced. Also explored have been advantages and disadvantages of informal education. The
next unit will focus on formal education and how this type of education came to Malawi. You
will, therefore, see the role which missionaries played and the way how these players structured
their curricula.

Reflection

Imagine a society without informal education. What could be the end result on socio
development of the country?

Unit 1 Test
Describe four reasons why informal education was practiced?

List four agents of informal education?

Compare and contrast advantages and disadvantages of informal education?

With relevant examples from present scenario, how has informal education uplifted the living
standards of the young generation in Malawi?

Suggest two ways how informal education surpassed formal education in terms of organization?

Note: Answers for this unit are provided at the end of this unit

Answers to exercise One

Examples of informal education in Malawian society include:

• Children being taught bricklaying, basket weaving, tailoring, carpentry and even farming
endeavours

• Baking on local basis are some activities which parents pass on to young ones

• Other domestic chores like drawing water, fetching firewood

Benefits of informal education to an individual and society at large

• On individual basis

• The children are self reliable and sufficient as they can generate own income to meet their
day to day needs
• The small businesses offer employment for themselves and even others

• Readily available labour supply is guaranteed when children have been taught domestic
chores

• Low dependency burden. One contributing factor to poverty in Malawi is high dependency
burden as bread winners have to provide for large groups which means the amount of
money earned in a month is spent on basic goods. Therefore, informal education can be a
solution.

• To the nation:

• Development activities forge ahead with informal education. Imagine a village where
children have been taught how to mould bricks and there is a classroom block being
constructed by villagers themselves

• Reduction in crime rate as children who are engaged in basket making will not be
dependent and hence avoid engaging in crime activities like robbery or murder in search
of basic needs.

• The informal sector contributes to country foreign exchange reserve when the goods are
exported. Therefore, more children engaged in carpentry and basket making will increase
the export base.

Answers to exercise two

• The role of peers in informal education

• Transmitting knowledge and skills to their counterparts

• Socializing friends to various traditions

• Are peers more influential than parents?

• Very subjective.

• The youth are bound to exert a lot of influence on their friends. The increase in drug
and alcohol abuse amongst adolescents is greatly attributed to peer influence.

Answers to exercise three

• The children did not drown in the river because they learnt from their dad how to
swim.
• Perhaps Ngozo realized the value of informal and formal education in uplifting the
life of an individual. He might have also been making ends meet from the informal
sector hence compelled to inculcate survival strategies to his children.

Answers for Unit 1 Test

• Informal education was practiced in order to:

• inculcate survival skills in children.

• transmit the traditions and customs to younger generation.

• enhance social cohesion.

• create a sense of awareness and belonging.

• enhance security through uniformity.

• Agents of informal education

• Peers

• Parents

• Community leaders

• Church leaders

• Initiation ceremonies

• The home

• Advantages of informal education

• Behavior was controlled

• Competition was reduced

• Survival skills were acquired

 • The benefits were realized within a short period

• There was conformity which made communities more secure

Disadvantages of informal education

• Individual talents were suppressed

• There was little room for innovation and creativity as conformity was the hallmark

• An initiate from one society could not fit into another society due to different
traditions.

• Informal education has lifted living standards through

• Imparting vocational and technical skills to children thereby making them

productive.

• Making formal school rejects self sufficient with manual work.

• Informal education surpassed formal education in these ways:

• Behavior was well controlled unlike indiscipline which is rampant in formal

schools especially these days.

• There was no individual competition which breeds rivalry and hatred over
limited resource.
 Unit 2

Introduction of Formal Education in Malawi

2.0 Introduction

Having looked at informal education, let us shift our attention to formal education in Malawi.
You might have asked yourself how the present education system started and apart from
government, who else took an active role in education? Who supported education with financial
resources and what was the role of government in this assignment? Most importantly, you will
analyze the problems encountered in the introduction of formal education.

2.1 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

• Explain the introduction of formal education in Malawi

• Identify major players in the introduction of formal education.

• Analyze the aim of missionaries in the introduction of formal education

• Examine Africans’ response to introduction of formal education

• Discuss the effect of first world war on formal education

• Identify the challenges encountered by missionaries in the introduction of formal

education.

Key Terms: Development

Curriculum

2.2 Origin of Formal Education in Malawi

You have been introduced to formal education as a type of education which involves regular
classes. The missionaries are the ones who started it all. Each missionary came to Malawi one at a
time. This section, therefore, provides an analysis of each and every missionary who came to
Malawi and the curriculum which they brought.

According to Chakwera et al (2000), the development of formal education in the country is closely
linked with the history of Christian missions which established themselves in various parts of the
country during the first half of the 19th Century. This dates back to the days of Dr David
Livingstone when he first reached the shores of Lake Nyasa in 1859.

Livingstone’s travel reports of Africa, his lectures at various universities and his book ‘Missionary
Travels and Researchers in South Africa,’ gave the people some insight into the vastness of the
continent, commercial opportunities it offered and the evils of slave trade.

2.2.1 Aims of Missionary Education

You have missionaries in your locality engaged in various activities. What impact are they making
to the socio economic development of the country? Did you say development?.

As observed by several scholars, development was on the agenda for missionaries. Note also that
the following were also some of the aims of missionaries:

• abolish slavery and substitute legitimate trade.

• build up prosperous African communities in areas where there was raiding and
suffering.

Civilizing native Africans was on the table for missionaries. Chakwera et al (2000) adds that
Livingstone’s philosophy was that evangelization was not possible among the less civilized and
industrialized people who were engaged in slave trade. To that effect he believed that after
introducing Christianity and replacing slave trade with legitimate trade; people would eventually
become civilized and industrious thereby bringing about development.

As added by Banda (1982) that the general view by all missionaries in the country was that
education and Christianity were but one thing in that education was to sub verse Christianity. Such
being the case, the aims of education were to be interpreted with the mind and in the spirit of
Christ, and followed up in all manifold implications for the individual and community.

The view of Livingstone was also shared by Rev Scott of Blantyre Mission who stated that the
church was not to stop at the evangelical side of things. It was to concern itself with many sided
aspects of African society – with the spiritual, industrial, social and political uplift of the people
as a whole. He argued that such an endeavor was not aimed at turning Africans into Europeans,
but rather it was an attempt to supply the answer to Livingstone’s appeal and prayer that Africa
needed christianity and commerce to stamp out evils of wars and slave trade. Rev Scott’s
pronouncement was tantamount to defining aims and objectives of Mission Education.

Major Players in the introduction of Formal Education

Having examined the aim of missionaries in the introduction of formal education, let us now look
at types of missionaries who were engaged in this noble task and the strategies they used in
providing formal education. The major players are:

• Livingstonia Mission or The Free Church of Scotland

• Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA)

• The Dutch Reformed Church

• The Church of Scotland, Blantyre Mission

• The Zambezi Industrial Mission

• The White Fathers Mission

These missionaries are analysed in terms of strategies they used and courses they introduced for
Malawians.

Livingstonia Mission

Livingstonia Mission arrived in Malawi and established its headquarters at Cape Maclear in 1875
where they built a school. According to Pachai (1973), the school had two departments, one for
day scholars and another one for boarders. Boarders gave two hours to do outdoor work and classes
were both in English and Chichewa. Notice that the following courses were offered:

• Reading, writing and counting (3Rs)

• Carpentry, bricklaying, brickmaking and needlework

These courses run from elementary to tertiary levels. The mission further offered courses for
training clerical officers as well as medical assistants.

Unit 2: Exercise 1
 Why do you think Livingstonia Mission introduced technical and intellectual courses?

The answer for this practical exercise is at the end of this unit

The University Mission to Central Africa

Founded in 1860 by Bishop Charles Frederick Mackenzie in response to Dr David Livingstone's

appeal at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. UMCA established its headquarters at Likoma
Island. UMCA offered all subjects except hygiene and agriculture. It was totally against the
inclusion of industrial training in its curriculum. Furthermore it resented government intervention
in its schools so much so that it did NOT even allow government aid for its schools. In spite of all
this, the mission made remarkable strides towards the training of women in the teaching profession.

It can be observed from the discussion that an aim on its can hardly be attained if not complemented
by other goals. In other words, a holistic approach ought to be taken if the idea of spreading
Christianity was to be achieved. Therefore, one had to earn a living by engaging in various
undertakings like carpentry, farming and weaving. However, all these occupations were geared at
one core purpose of spreading Christianity.

The Dutch Reformed Mission Church Mission in Malawi

Like the Free Church of Scotland described above, the Dutch Reformed Church Mission offered
similar diversified courses, with the exception of English. Credit is still given to its novel approach
to teacher training programmes, particularly with respect to its attempts to improve quality in the
teaching profession.

The Church of Scotland - Blantyre Mission

The Blantyre Mission is particularly renowned for its efficient plans of organisation and
supervision. It also provided a wide range of vocational training courses, including sanitary and
medical services among others. Furthermore, it established a commerce department where
business methods, typewriting and bookkeeping were taught.
The Zambezi Industrial Mission
The Zambezi Industrial Mission was noted for training in various arts and in the growing of crops
with the aim of making the mission self supporting through the profits made from sales. In short,
it established a concept of self-sufficiency in institutions; this concept became widely accepted
and adopted in other mission establishments.

The Roman Catholic Missions

Like the Zambezi Industrial Mission described above, the Roman Catholic missions also gave
special attention to the growth and cultivation of crops along with the more usual work of providing
religious, technical and elementary education. This emphasis on agriculture can be seen as a
complementary effort to the work of the missions as a whole in the field of educational
development in Malawi.

The White Fathers Mission

The White Fathers arrived at Mponda in 1889 and established a school. In 1891 they withdrew to
Rhodesia only to return later in 1902 and open stations at Ntakataka, Mua, Likuni and Kachebere.

We must bear in mind that although these players had common aims, their strategies varied from
one group to the other. It is worth examining the common features before we single out the specific
features of each player.

Firstly, Banda (1982) states clearly that they all used the school as auxiliary to the church. For
instance, one had to be a convert of a particular mission first before being enrolled in the school.
The missionaries all started training evangelists who later became teachers, in order to further the
aims of their mission.

Secondly, although their curriculum focused on the 3-Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) and
elementary education, according to Banda (1982:3) ‘there was a great tendency towards religious
bias in the mission's curriculum’.

Lastly, it was becoming increasingly clear that the effectiveness of the teacher lay in the quality of
training. Consequently, deliberate efforts were made to improve the training; hence almost all
missions had opened teacher training colleges by 1902.
Curriculum Variation amongst Missionaries

Although the major players had similarities as we have outlined above, we must also bear in mind
that they also had differences. Imagine a country with diverse subjects being offered and
curriculum which is not speaking the same language. Can standards of education be upheld? What
about its overall result on quality of education. The chapter puts all these issues into perspective.

Universities Mission to Central Africa (UMCA)

UMCA offered all subjects except hygiene and agriculture. It was totally against the inclusion of
industrial training in its curriculum. Furthermore it resented government intervention in its schools
so much so that it did NOT even allow government aid for its schools. In spite of all this, the
mission made remarkable strides towards the training of women in the teaching profession.

The Free Church of Scotland - Livingstonia Mission

Through the Overton Institute (headquartered at Khondowe), the mission made the first attempt to
offer more diversified courses at both elementary and tertiary levels. To that effect it came to be
known as the centre of higher educational work for the mission. Apart from offering the
3–Rs it established a technical wing which trained apprentices in agriculture, science, carpentry
and printing. It also offered courses for the training of clerical officers as well as medical assistants,
among many other courses. Progress in its educational development is well articulated by Banda
(1982,5) who states:

The Overton Institute was more than a school. It was a educational and religious
community of the Africans from all over the country under the devoted Scottish
missionaries who undoubtedly deserve credit (p.5).

The Dutch Reformed Mission Church Mission in Malawi

Like the Free Church of Scotland described above, the Dutch Reformed Church Mission offered
similar diversified courses, with the exception of English. Credit is still given to its novel approach
to teacher training programmes, particularly with respect to its attempts to improve quality in the
teaching profession.

The Church of Scotland - Blantyre Mission

The Blantyre Mission is particularly renowned for its efficient plans of organisation and
supervision. It also provided a wide range of vocational training courses, including sanitary and
medical services among others. Furthermore, it established a commerce department where
business methods, typewriting and bookkeeping were taught.

The Zambezi Industrial Mission

The Zambezi Industrial Mission was noted for training in various arts and in the growing of crops
with the aim of making the mission self supporting through the profits made from sales. In short,
it established a concept of self-sufficiency in institutions; this concept became widely accepted
and adopted in other mission establishments.

The Roman Catholic Missions

Like the Zambezi Industrial Mission described above, the Roman Catholic missions also gave
special attention to the growth and cultivation of crops along with the more usual work of providing
religious, technical and elementary education. This emphasis on agriculture can be seen as a
complementary effort to the work of the missions as a whole in the field of educational
development in Malawi.

2.5 Quality of Missionary Education

Did missionaries do enough to transform the industrial, social and economic needs of Malawians
with their curriculum? What indicators are there to prove or disprove this?

Despite introduction of formal education, missionaries’ curriculum had the following areas which
were not doing enough in addressing socio – economic needs of the country

• It was deprived of intellectual development. Notice that emphasis was not intellectual
development because:

• Bible reading was the main objective of their education. This form of literacy
among was important because it was felt that those who could read the bible could
be used to expound the scriptures to other.

• There was lack of desire to provide education for intellectual development. As

argued by Banda (1982), missionaries felt that African converts were very simple
people for whom more sophisticated ways of life of ideas were quite unsuitable and
would only be disturbing

It should, therefore, be underscored that industrial training which missionaries

provided was meant to help the converts earn a living in a decent manner as
observed by Banda that idleness leads to vice.
 Tindall () corroborates Banda by adding that literacy in the vernacular, was the
main aim and the curriculum concentrated on the 3Rs, some training in agriculture,
carpentry and hygiene was usually added to improve the standards of village life

• There was lack of supervision and inspection. The importance of supervision and
inspection hardly needs exaggeration as it ensures that standards of teaching and learning
are upheld. However, as observed by Banda, the supervision which missionaries carried
out in schools was more for religious other than educational purposes.

• Curriculum was not unified. Each missionary had own aim and objective with differences
in content and methodology.

• It failed to address industrial needs

This type of education was geared towards evangelism and never gave much attention to
the needs of industrial growth.

2.5.1 Influence of First World War on Formal Education

After the First World War, there was increased demand for education due to the following
reasons

• The country was at peace and education gave people social status

• Chiefs were beginning to seek advice from those that had received formal education

• Experience of soldiers returning from war was motivating having interacted with
educated Europeans

• People realized that education not only accorded one social status but rather it was
also financially rewarding which implies that it was easy to pay tax and even meet
basic needs like clothing. Tindall corroborates Banda by arguing that after the First
World War African grew increasingly for school as they realized that education had
value for them, particularly in obtaining jobs in European areas

• Pressure from some movements. Many Malawian saw great value in education and
pressurized the colonial government to extend the provision of education to native
Malawians. It was not only liberalizing but also enlightening to ordinary Malawians
to get educated hence pressure on the colonial government.
 2.6 Challenges Encountered by Missionaries in the Introduction of Formal Education

Missionaries encountered a lot of challenges in the introduction of formal education. You might
wish to know that by then, communication was a problem since the road network was poor.
Notice that the following problems were encountered by missionaries:

• Insecurity

According to Tindall, missionaries depended on goodwill of some powerful chiefs and at

anytime succession quarrels, tribal wars and raids could endanger their lives. It was again
risky since their work was against existing customs.

• Communication was a barrier

Language differences made the work for missionaries unbearable as understanding was
difficult. They could hardly communicate in vernacular in order to teach reading and
writing.

• Death of key leaders due to Malaria and blackwater as a result of hot unfamiliar
tropical climate

A number of key leaders succumbed to malaria hence they abandoned mission work at
Magomero, Cape Maclear and Bandawe which retarded expansion of formal education

• Lack of teachers

There was an increase in number of pupils as teachers were being trained at a slow pace

• Lack of infrastructure

Some roads were impassable hence it was difficult to open schools and also supplies were
limited which made missionary work tough.

2.7 Africans’ Response to Mission Education

The response from Africans depended on a number of factors such as:

 • the kind of material that was taught, that is, the content

• the approach taken by teachers, that is , the method and

• the value that the African saw in that type of education

This is in contrast to informal education as the following elements made it to succeed:

• The content was familiar since it was drawn from local environment

• The method was direct, that is, learning by doing

• Knowledge gained was for immediate use

In short, stronger tribes resisted formal education while small tribes accepted it. On the same, the
younger generation welcomed the education while the older generation felt alienated.

Summary

In summary, the missionaries had differences in terms of aims and hence the curriculum varied
from one to another. However, one factor clearly coming out is the fact that they all wanted to
spread Christianity and spur development. It could be debatable, on the other hand, if the types of
subjects which were offered can be described as if they were geared towards development. Also
examined are problems which missionaries encountered in the introduction of formal education.
In the next unit, we will explore the nature and type of missionary education and the impact that
this education had on Africans.

Answers for Unit 2 Exercise 1

Livingstonia Mission wanted the congregats to live a self sufficient and descent life hence
introduced technical subjects. On the same, intellectual subjects like Reading and Writing were
meant to aid in reading the bible

End of Unit 3 Exercise

• Explain the challenges which missionaries encountered in the introduction of formal

education.

• Examine factors which made informal education to succeed in relation to factors which
frustrated the introduction of formal education.
Answers for End of Unit Exercise

Challenges encountered by missionaries:

• Language differences

• Communication problems

• Unfriendly tribes

• Insecurity

Factors which made informal education to succeed were:

• Familiar content

• Same language

• Informal and simple methodology

On the other hand, formal education had the following problems

• Content was not familiar

• Methodologies were new

• Content did not promote their customs

 Unit 3

Nature of Mission Education

This unit sheds more light on the nature and characteristics of missionary’s formal education. You
have seen in the previous unit that each missionary offered a different curriculum. What was the
impact of missionary education then?

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the nature of missionary education

• Discuss characteristics of missionary education

• Explain the impact of missionary education

Nature of Mission Education

As already alluded to in unit two, the curriculum for missionary education was not unified and
each had a variation of subjects. Notice also that missionary education had the following
characteristics:

• The curriculum contained secular, religious, technical or industrial as well as teacher

training programmes in various ways.

• Initial elementary schools offered religious instruction with some rudiments of 3Rs.
The upcoming middle schools offered subjects such as English, Geography and
Hygiene in addition to Religious Instruction.

• Technical or industrial schools offered practical courses such as agriculture science,

building, carpentry, printing and housework. Lastly, there were also Teacher Training
Schools with teacher training courses which were designed to meet the needs of the
teaching profession and evangelism. Thus the nature and types of education while
intended to meet the mission goals also paved the way for the development of formal
education in Malawi.

Characteristics of Mission Education

You will see that missionary education had peculiar attributes. What do you think were
some of the characteristics of missionary education? You should include the following:

• It aimed at helping people to read and interpret the gospel

• It did not emphasize much on intellectual development. The courses offered were
basically elementally covering the 3Rs that is, Reading, Writing and Simple
Arithmetic.

• Teachers had a dual function: they had to serve as teachers as well as evangelists.
This means that teachers had a function of marrying the doctrines of a particular
mission to the content being taught in their schools.

• It was school based as children converged at one place either a school or church
where they received instruction.

However, there were times when children could be withdrawn from their home and
stay at the school premises as borders. Here the main aim was to cut off any link
between the children and any cultural heritage.
 Impact of Mission Education

Missionary education had both positive and negative impact on people. The
following are some advantages of mission education:

• Elevating status of individuals. Ordinary people who received formal education

and worked with the missionaries were highly regarded in their communities.
Teachers enjoyed high positions in villages regardless of their humble origins.

• Creating foundation for national unity. By bringing together people of

different tribes together, schools created the feeling of national belonging. It was
later the educated who led nationalistic groups which brought different tribes
under one nation.

• Laying a foundation for common curriculum. The mission education which

was fragmented created the need for a common education code. This became the
basis for the growth of formal education in Malawi.

• Beginning of national development. Formal education, which missionaries

introduced, created a team of leaders in education, agriculture, industry and public
service. This became the hub for national development.

• Introduced the natives to modern living standards. The dressing of local

natives significantly improved due to association with Europeans with the
emergence of formal education.

Disadvantages of Missionary Education

• It made the youth more superior to elders. By focusing school education on the
youth, this form of education left adults and made them less knowledgeable.

• It alienated the educated from the masses. Those who received this education
became selfish, individualistic and separated. This attitude was against egalitarian
principle (equality in society) which characterized African societies.

• There was a dislike of manual labour as white collar jobs were encouraged which
resulted into the youth trekking to town.

Summary
The unit has examined the nature and characteristics of missionary education and its impact on
ordinary citizens. In the next unit you will hear why the colonial government did not join
missionaries in the provision of formal education.

End of Unit 3 Exercise

• Briefly explain the nature of missionary education

• Describe five characteristics of missionary education

• Discuss the positive and negative impact of missionary education?

Answers for End of Unit 3 Exercise

• The curriculum focused much on reading, writing and arithmetic. It also offered
technical and industrial subjects. There were also teacher training programmes.

• Characteristics of missionary education:

• Teachers had a dual function i.e beside teaching they also served as evangelists

• It was church based. The children converged at a church

• It aimed at helping people how to read and write.

• It did not emphasize intellectual development

• - Positive impact of missionary education of missionary education include:

• Elevating the status of ordinary people

• Creating a foundation for national unity

• It laid a basis for national development as experts in industries, agriculture and

other fields emerged from this education

• Ordinary citizens were introduced to modern living standards

• It also laid a foundation for a common curriculum

• Negative impact of missionary education were:

• It made the younger generation much more superior than the old generatio

• It induced a spirit of competition

• There was dislike for manual labour as the younger generation went to town
in search a
 UNIT 4

COLONIAL GOVERNMENT AND FORMAL

EDUCATION

Introduction

It is a role of each government to ensure that educational opportunities are made

available for its citizens. In this regard, government is supposed to play a pivotal role
in coordination and organization. Ironically, the colonial government overlooked this
aspect. The responsibility of providing education for the people was in the hands of
missionaries. You will also recall that while evangelization was the main purpose of
introducing education, these missionaries had different doctrines and therefore, each
had to run its programs differently from another. Do you anticipate unification in terms
of subjects to be offered? In this unit you will examine the reasons that prompted the
colonial government NOT to be actively involved in the running of education and how
Africans responded to it.

Success Criteria

By the end of this unit you should are be able to:

• Explain the factors that prompted government to ignore taking part in the
provision of formal education.

• Describe the reaction of Africans to Colonial government’s lack of participation

in education

Key Words

You need to comprehend certain concepts which are integral in this unit. Ensure
that you are familiar with the following terms:

• Code of education

• Participation

• Phelps – Stoke Commission report

Reasons for Colonial Government’s Lack of Participation in the Provision of

Formal Education

• Lack of coordination amongst missionaries

The colonial government observed that there was no organization and

correlation amongst missionaries. According to Pachai (1973:173), the
missionaries complained that there was no Department of Education to
confer with the mission, to encourage them in their work, or to help them
 relate their influences to each other or to colonial needs. There was not even
a policy to offer direction

• Security

Colonial government argued that that they were very much concerned with
security for the natives hence resources were channeled to protect the
people.

• Lack of a common code

You recall that the curriculum varied from one missionary to another and
this was a concern for the colonial government

• Satisfaction with Missionary efforts

Colonial government also argued that they were impressed with missionary
work and it believed that these missionaries were doing a commendable job
already in the provision of education hence the need to focus on other
programs.

• Chilembwe’s uprising

• Colonial government was always conscious of the educated African and

their need to rise against government. According to Chakwera (2010) the
Chilembwe rising in 1915, the government was reluctant to support
education for fear of inviting more trouble from the Africans. During this
period the government was suspicious of the education that missionaries
offered the Africans.

Activity

Answers at the end

 Africans’ Response to Colonial Government’s Lack of Participation in Education

In the last section, you have seen that the colonial government presented various
excuses as to why it did not take part in the provision of education for its citizenry. You
have also noticed that each missionary offered its own curriculum without
coordination. In the next section, you will see how things changed drastically and how
these missionaries and other concerned Africans pressurized government to be
involved in the noble task of proving for education. How did the missionaries started it
all?

• To begin with, the missionaries organized a conference in 1900 at

Livingstonia. According to Pachai (1973), four of the missions made the
first move towards a unified system. The conference agreed to produce a
common educational code.

• The second conference was held in Blantyre in 1904 and was published the
following year under the impressive title of Central Africa United
Educational Missionary Institutions.

The code provided for curricula for five grades of schools and institutions from vernacular
village schools at one end to theological schools at the other. In 1910, a consultative board
was set up where matters of general policy were referred and government recognized this
board. It is through this board that various demands were made to government and the
response came in this way:

• Government announced its first funding of £1,000 (K 2000) in 1907 to

be shared amongst missionaries. The UMCA refused government aid
since it did not subscribe to the code and chose to be independent. The
mission refused to incorporate industrial training and concentrated on
religious undertakings only.

• The third conference was held in 1910 at Mvera and the missions
involved described themselves as Federated Missions. The members
were Dutch Reformed Church Mission, the South African General
Mission, the Zambezi Industrial Mission and the Nyasa Industrial
Mission. The Federated Mission was an agreement for all those
missions accepting the common code.

• The conference also agreed to form a consultative board to which questions affecting
the general policy of the mission might be referred for common action. Through this board,
the missions made appeals to the government for more funds because the initial allocation
of £1,000 was NOT sufficient. The government responded in 1918 by increasing the
 allocation to £2,000 per annum to be shared amongst those missions accepting the code.
Even then, the money was NOT sufficient; it was just a small fraction of the total sum
spent by the missionaries to run their schools.
• According to Chakwera (2000), some educated Malawians, such as Chinula, Chilembwe
and so on, exerted pressure on the government to be involved in education. They noted that
before 1907 the government had done nothing about native education and yet it imposed
different types of tax on the people.
When the government started funding the missionaries, educated Africans noted that the
appropriation was too small. They pressured for an increase. However, the government did NOT
increase its grant-in-aid from 1918 until the release of the Phelps-Stokes Commission Report in
1924.

The Phelps Stokes Commission Report

Freedom does not come on a silver platter. One has to fight for it. This is exactly what happened
in the pursuit of education for Africans. Just like Martin Luther and Nelson Mandela who fought
for equality and equity between blacks and whites, Chinula and Chilembwe together with other
concerned Africans had to fight for quality education. In the previous section, you have seen that
it was a concerted effort amongst some educated Africans which forced the colonial government
to begin releasing funding in support for education. However, it was until the Phelps – Stoke
Commission report was released in 1924 that the colonial government was compelled to bow down
to the demands

According to Chakwera (2000), the Phelps-Stokes Commission was established in 1920 and
published in 1924. Its primary task was to investigate education in Africa funded by the Phelp-
Stokes Fund.

Judging from the overall enrolment in mission schools in comparison with the country's population
at the time, the commission was very complementary to the contributions to education in Malawi
by missions without the colonial government's aid.

It made two major observations.

1) It noted that many people in Malawi had NOT taken full advantage of the type of mission
education provided independently of government aid.
2) It further noted that the colonial government had failed to organise and consolidate the work
started by the missions.
Arising from these observations, the Phelps-Stokes Commission (1924,19) had a strong conviction
that:

An education related to the health of the people, to their agricultural and industrial
possibilities, to their family life and their character development, would undoubtedly help
the Colony to improve its status among the colonies of Africa (p.19).
To that goal, the Commission made the following strong recommendations.

• The government should establish a Department of Education and appoint a director of

education as well as appropriate supporting officers.
• The government should establish an advisory board of native education comprised of
government representatives, settlers, missionaries and representatives of the native
population.
• The government should provide additional financial support to the missions for the
advancement of education.
• All missions should adopt the educational structure of the Blantyre mission.
• Government officials should pay friendly visits to village schools.
It was largely in light of these recommendations that, according to Banda (1982), the colonial
government of the time, in what was then called Nyasaland, began to think seriously about the
possibility of creating a Department of Education. Only then did education in Malawi begin to
enter a new phase.

As argued by Pachai (1973), the Phelps Stoke Commisssion report called for the setting up of a
department of education together with an Advisory Board on African Education. These
recommendations were reinforced by another report the following year, this time from the
commission of the colonial office itself. The first Director for Education in Malawi, R.F. Grant,
arrived in 1926 and an Education Department was set up.
UNIT 6
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION 1926 - 1961
Introduction
You recall that Chilembwe and Chinula together with other concerned Africans pressed the
government to fund education, and most importantly, demanded the establishment of The
Department of Education in 1927. The Phelps – Stoke Commission report further demanded
from colonial government the establishment of an Advisory Board and other supporting
officers. The question is; what was the role of The Department of Education. Did it ease the
coordination problem of all education related activities?

This unit therefore examines the function and composition of The Department of Education
and the reasons that led to its establishment.

Success Criteria

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

• Explain the reasons that led to the establishment of The Department of Education

• Describe the composition of The Department of Education

• Discuss the function of The Department of Education.

REASONS THAT LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
There are a number of reasons that led to the establishment of the department of education
and it should be underscored that it took years for this dream to come true. According to
Banda (1982), the establishment of the department of education was necessitated because
of the following reasons:

• To supervise and coordinate the work of missions in the provision of education.

• To train teachers. This followed the resolution arrived after the 1926 conference
in Blantyre

• To formulate policies that regulated the running and opening of schools. One
policy restricted opening of unassisted schools. As observed by Banda, The Roman
Catholic had a tendency of opening unassisted schools for the sake of enlarging their
sphere of influence in the disguise of spreading the Gospel. The policy was quick to
close such kind of schools

• The need to for common standards: According to Chakwera (2000), although

missionaries offered satisfactory education, the government became concerned with
disparities between one mission and another. These disparities were noted in the
curriculum offered, the system of schools missionaries followed and the calibre of
teachers they engaged. This state of affairs created the need for an education policy
to create and regulate standards for all schools to follow.
• Pressure from Educated Africans: By 1910, several Africans who had been
educated at various missions began to question the government's lack of
involvement in education. From 1912, native associations began to emerge in
various parts of the country. One of the objectives of these associations was to keep
the government informed of African opinion. African pressure mounted after the
Chilembwe rising when the whites became more suspicious of the education
missionaries were giving to Africans. The government was reluctant to increase
education grants to missionaries. The secular pressure increased as Africans
intensified their demands for more government involvement in education.
• Increased Missionary Pressure. As the demand for education increased,
missionaries felt a greater burden and demanded an increased government grant. In
fact, Banda (1982) observes that some missionaries of the younger generation
considered education to be a government responsibility.
• The need to ensure accountability of public funds. The government began to feel
it had to follow up on the way missionaries used the education grants it gave. This
was especially important after 1918 when the government increased its annual grant
from £1000 to £2000.
• Recommendations of the Phelps-Stokes Commission. The Phelp-Stokes
Commission was largely satisfied with the educational work of missionaries. In its
 recommendations, it explicitly stated the need for government to establish a
Department of Education to consolidate the work of the missionaries. The
commission further recommended that government officers should pay friendly
visits to mission schools. The system of schools which the Blantyre mission had
developed was recommended for adoption in all missions. These recommendations
prompted the government to establish the Department of Education in 1926. Banda
adds that, Blantyre Mission adopted a curriculum which provided roots for
intellectual development in the 3Rs, English, Religious Instruction, Physical
Education besides Industrial Training and it was considered ideal for socio –
economic development of the country.
The Department of Education came into existence in 1926 and Mr R.F. Grant was appointed
Director of Education. As argued by Banda (1982:70), Mr Grant by virtue of his position he was
also a member of a Legislative Council.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Having established The Department of Education in 1926, it was of paramount importance to put
various structures and positions to ensure effective running and management of education affairs.
As propounded by Henri Fayol’s Principles of Management, it is imperative to have scalar chain
of authority for effective management of any organization.

The Department of Education, on its establishment was headed by The Director, Mr R.F. Grant.
According to Banda, the total staffing at that time consisted of the director himself, an assistant
Director, two superintendents and three clerks. However, you would recall that the Phelps –
Stoke Commission report recommended that beside The Director heading The Department of
Education, there was need for an Advisory Board of Native Education to consist of the
representatives of Government, the settlers, and the Missionaries – with African representation
provided.

By virtue of having a representative in the name of Levi Mumba, native Africans could easily
channel their grievance in the pursuit of education for ordinary Africans. As summed by
Chakwera, It was through this board that all critical issues pertaining to education were processed
and brought to the attention of the Department of Education.

The following were some of the main functions of the Department of Education:

• to organise, co-ordinate and supervise the educational work of the missions

• to create linkages between the educational work of the missions with phases of colonial
life
• to confer with missions and encourage them in their work
 • to help missions collaborate with each other to meet colonial needs
• to evaluate educational activities and take appropriate action
• to develop co–operation for the education of the native people
• to obtain aid for missions.
•
•
•
The Achievements of the Department of Education

We will now focus our attention on the achievements of the Department of Education.

In October 1926, the Federated Missions held the fifth General Conference in Blantyre. The
director of education attended the conference where the problem of teacher training was discussed
and co–operation between government and missions was sought. The direct outcome of the
conference was the establishment of the Jeanes Training Centre in 1929, where the government
helped to fund teacher education.

The department organised a conference in 1927 in Zomba. At this conference, all missions except
the UMCA agreed to co-operate with the government by adopting the education scheme put
forward by the department. An advisory board on education was also established after the same
conference. The board was responsible for advising the government on all educational activities
of native education.

The government also increased its funding for education. By 1927 the government allocated
£4,000; this amount increased in subsequent years. The largest amount ever provided for grants
for native education was £11,500, given in 1931 when the general scheme of development and the
expansion of social services were set in motion.

In 1933, the department appointed the first African member to the Advisory Committee on Native
Education. His name was Levi Mumba. In 1937 Charles Matinga was also appointed and these
two worked very hard for the establishment of a government-managed secondary school for
Africans. It was NOT until 1938 that the government of Nyasaland announced the need for
secondary education.

After much negotiations and delays caused by the outbreak of the Second World War, it was
eventually decided that there would be two secondary schools: one in Blantyre run by a board of
governors of the Christian Church, and the other in Zomba whose board of governors would be
Roman Catholics. The Blantyre Secondary School was opened in 1941 and the Zomba Catholic
School was opened in 1942.
Once the department was put in place, it started formulating policies and made sure that they were
implemented. For instance, it formulated a policy restricting the opening of unassisted schools.
Unassisted schools are schools [[add definition]]. The missionaries, especially the latecomers like
Roman Catholics, wanted to open many unassisted schools in a bid to expand their area of
influence, but the policy of the department stopped that movement.

The department also introduced a policy regarding enrolment known as the rules of age limit.
Under this rule, anybody who was over a certain age was NOT allowed to continue with schooling.

In 1949 the department also rationalised the education system so that primary school covered eight
years, while secondary took place over two, four or six years.

You may wish to know that some of the policies the department introduced had a detrimental effect
on education. For example, the rules of age limit increased the wastage. Nevertheless, what is
important to note is that we see the government formulating policies and effectively imposing them
on the missionaries. In other words, the government was controlling education.

Unit 7

Teacher Education

Introduction

One problem that missionaries faced in their provision of education was a lack of enough
qualified teachers. This unit deals with the development of teacher education, from its humble
beginnings under various missions to the time government took over and then to the time
government embarked on secondary school teacher education.

Success criteria
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• describe the quality of primary teacher education introduced by the missionaries

• evaluate the quality of teacher education under the missionaries
• identify the different grades of teachers produced
• analyse why government got involved in teacher education
• explain the development of secondary teacher education under the colonial government
• describe government efforts in teacher education after independence.
•

•
Key words

You will find the following key words or phrases in this unit. Watch for them and make sure that
you understand what they mean and how they are used within the unit.

distance education

inset courses

mentorship

normal school

Teacher Education Under Missionaries

In order to appreciate the development of teacher education in Malawi, we need to look at the
beginnings of formal education in the country.

You will remember that we discussed the major players in mission education in Unit 2. Let us
now look more closely at how these missions taught their own teachers. When missionaries
settled at a particular place and opened a school, the first teachers were Europeans. Some of
these Europeans were teachers by profession while others were unqualified. In addition to
offering catechism lessons to their converts, these missionaries also taught the converts how to
read, write and do arithmetic (the 3-Rs). Teaching grew out of catechism classes because those
who became knowledgeable in the 3-Rs and the teachings of the Bible went out to teach others.

Let us look at how individual missions trained their teachers in Malawi.

Livingstonia
The Overton Institute, founded in 1894, started training teachers in 1895 under the normal
school. A normal school is a school established for the training of teachers. In addition to
training Livingstonia teachers, the institute also received student-teacher trainees from the Dutch
Reformed Church and the Church of Scotland. Two grades of teachers graduated from the
Overton Institute:

• Vernacular grade teachers

• English grade teachers.
The subjects taught included English, arithmetic, scripture, drill and method, hygiene and
agriculture.

Universities Mission to Central Africa

In 1899 the Universities Mission to Central Africa, which had a college at Kanga in
Mozambique, established a teacher training college at Malindi known as St. Michael’s Teacher
Training College. The subjects taught included scripture, prayer book, English, arithmetic,
composition, singing, geography, Portuguese and drill and method. You may note that
agriculture and hygiene were NOT in the UMCA curriculum. The reason because its emphasis
was on evangelisation.

The Dutch Reformed Mission Church

After being inspired by the 1900 Conference, the Dutch Reformed Church in Malawi resolved to
open a teacher training school for teachers and evangelists. Their persistence materialised in
1902 when a training school was opened at Mvera. The school was later transferred to Nkhoma
where it was called William Murray’s Teacher Training College. Banda (1982) observed that the
curriculum was based on the fact that the church wanted to instil a thorough knowledge of the
word of God and also to prepare people for agriculture and simple village life. The method
adopted in the normal schools was very interesting in that pupils came in for a year, and then
went out to teach for two years. They came back again for one year, went out again for two
years, came back again for a third year and then graduated.

The Blantyre Mission

In 1908 the Blantyre Mission established the Henry Henderson Institute (HHI). Before 1908,
student teachers were sent to Livingstonia for training while others became qualified through a
programme of supervised apprenticeship called mentorship. The HHI produced three grades of
teachers:

• vernacular grade teachers for elementary village schools

• teachers with a school master's certificate, which meant they were equivalent to the
English grade teachers in Livingstonia
 • teachers with an acting teacher probationer's certificate (Anglo-vernacular), for those who
failed to pass the teachers examination to obtain the master's certificate.
One striking feature about Blantyre mission was the organisation and supervision of its teachers.
The HHI organised inset courses every year for all teachers. Inset courses were the equivalent of
upgrading courses or professional development programmes. These courses lasted for two
months, and during this period the following programmes were offered.

• The English grade teachers received further training in methodology and training in
evangelism.
• Vernacular grade teachers received refresher courses to improve their teaching, along
with some evangelistic training.
• Probationary teachers were being assisted to pass the teachers examinations they had
failed.
• Teacher-learners received intensive training in methodology.
This system ensured continued professional growth. It was the system which the Phelps-Stokes
Commission had recommended that all missions adopt.

We should remember that every mission had some training for its teachers. For instance, the
Nyasa Mission opened a teacher training school in 1907 in Thyolo.

Government Involvement in Teacher Education

In the preceding section, we noted that teacher education was predominantly a responsibility of
missionaries up to the 1920s. We shall now consider the reasons why government decided to get
involved in teacher training. This information builds on our discussion in the last unit on the role
of government in education. Some of the reasons are outlined below.

Quality

In 1927 the Department of Education administered examinations to teachers drawn from

different missions. The results of the examinations revealed that teacher quality in the country
was very low. It became clear to the government that many missionaries were NOT concerned
about the quality of the teachers they engaged.

Grading

From the results of the 1927 teacher examination, the 319 teachers who were successful received
third grade certificates. Another 55 received vernacular grade certificates. Those who nearly
passed were given honorary third grade certificates. The minority who failed were deemed under
qualified but were given licence to teach in an unassisted post. This process marked the
beginning of teacher grading, which later characterised the teaching profession.
Leadership

Under mission employment teachers fulfilled dual functions: that of evangelist and that of
teacher. In most cases, teachers were more involved in evangelism than in teaching. The
government felt that teachers ought to take a leading role in rural development. It was therefore
felt that special training of teachers was needed to equip them for this leadership role.

Standards

The variations that were noted in missionary teacher education created the need for common
standards to improve teacher performance. In order to establish and maintain such standards the
government decided to get involved in teacher education.

You may appreciate that it was against this background that the government opened the Jeanes
Training Centre at Domasi in 1929. This centre started with funds from the Carnegie Corporation
of New York in the United States. By 1937, the centre had made tremendous advances in teacher
education. Among its achievements were the production of:

• 75 trained teacher supervisors drawn from various missions, who became advisers for
local teachers and initiated a number of improvements
• 60 teacher wives who were trained to assist their husbands to extend the influence of
schools into homes and villages
• 19 trained native authorities, who promoted rural development.
In addition to what the government was doing at Domasi, it also gave grants to mission training
colleges. Some developments you may wish to note include the following.

• In 1955 the government discontinued vernacular grade training and introduced a post-
school certificate course. It also set entry standards for teacher training to the completion
of eight years of primary school.
• In 1959 the principals of teacher training colleges in Malawi met at Domasi and
discussed the teacher education curriculum.
• Between 1960 and 1964 a policy emerged to revolutionise teacher education. It
emphasised the need to improve teacher quality.
• In 1962, Soche Hill College was opened and offered courses for T2 and T3. These
courses were discontinued at Soche Hill College when the government decided to change
the college into a training institution for secondary school teachers.
Self Evaluation — Activity 5-a
Having gone through this section, analyse four factors which justified government involvement
in teacher education.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

The Development of Secondary Teacher Education Training

In the last section you dealt with government involvement in primary teacher education. In this
section you will deal with the development of secondary teacher education. The development of
secondary teacher education training was prompted by the following factors:

• rapid expansion of secondary schools

• gradual change in focus from primary to secondary education
• need to replace expatriates with local teachers over time
• need to provide quality education.
Secondary education was established with the opening of Blantyre Secondary School in 1940. It
marked the beginning of a change in focus from primary to secondary education. Teachers
employed then were mostly missionary expatriates in the few newly established schools.

In 1961 the Ministry of Education announced a policy change that meant that priority would be
given to the expansion of facilities for secondary education. The statement was followed by the
appointment in 1961 of the Phillips Commission and the Education Survey Team to study the
implications.

In 1962, the Phillips Commission recommended secondary school expansion and improvements
in the training of teachers. The Education Survey Team, on the other hand, agreed with the idea
of urgent expansion. However, in its 1962 report it also recommended the improvement of the
quality of both primary and secondary education.

For the training of secondary school teachers, Soche Hill College started a three-year diploma
course in education in 1962. Its entry qualification was the school certificate. The course aimed
at producing teachers with a good knowledge of two teaching subjects and professional skills for
effective teaching. In addition, the curriculum placed emphasis on science subjects and English.

Soche Hill College NOT only addressed teacher demand in the wake of secondary education
expansion but also attempted to replace expatriates with locally trained teachers. With the
opening of the University of Malawi in 1965, the responsibility for secondary school teacher
education shifted to the faculty of education. The faculty's mandate was:

• to ensure the training of appropriately qualified teachers

• to make available its facilities for both in-service and pre-service training
• to give preference in selection for degree-level teacher education to long -erving teachers.
The early 1990s saw the sudden increase of distance education centres in addition to the growing
numbers of secondary schools. As you well know, distance education is the delivery of
instruction NOT in a face-to-face environment but through independent self-study, with input
from instructors and advisors. The appearance of distance education centres and secondary
schools created yet a higher demand for teachers. Domasi College of Education was established
in 1993 to address this shortfall.

At present the University of Malawi and Domasi College of Education are the main sources of
secondary school teacher training but they are still far from meeting the demand for secondary
school teachers in Malawi.

Teacher Development Today

You have already seen how the sudden expansion of both primary and secondary schools created
an unprecedented demand for teachers in Malawi. You have also seen how the existing and
available training facilities have failed to meet the growing teacher demand in schools.

In addition to the conventional methods of teacher training, recent innovations in the training of
teachers have been developed in order to accelerate the pace of training intended to meet the
teacher shortfall in schools.

At the primary school level the Malawi Schools Teacher Education programme (MASTEP) and
the Malawi Integrated In-service Teacher Education Programme (MIITEP) are two innovations
in teacher training. In these programmes the teachers spend part of their training period in a
teacher training college and the other part actually teaching. These programmes are meant to
address the teacher shortfall that emerged with the advent of free primary education in 1994.

At the secondary school level, the newly established Mzuzu University (1999) has also embarked
on a conventional teacher education programme. The introduction of the Diploma in Secondary
Education through distance education at Domasi College of Education, of which you are a part,
is also an innovation structurally similar to MASTEP and MIITEP. These initiatives may go a
long way towards meeting the teacher shortfall resulting from the creation of community- day
secondary schools in Malawi.
In spite of all these attempts, the quest to provide adequately qualified teachers in Malawi
continues today. When you finish your training, you will be part of this important and much-
needed group of teachers for Malawi.
 UNIT 8
POST INDEPENDENCE ERA UP TO 1994
The education system in Malawi has a long history. It has not been easy for Malawians to
enroll in schools both at primary and secondary level. You have seen in the previous unit
that it took the courage and tenacity of a few selected Malawian to exert pressure on the
colonial government for it to take part in funding the education sector. You will see in this
unit that while the situation improved after the establishment of the department of
education, not all was rosy. We shall again examine the quality of education before and
after attaining independence.

Success Criteria

By the end of this unit, you are expected to:

• Describe the state of education as offered at the dawn of independence.

• Examine the existing human resource needs of the country at the time of takeover.

• Explain the great expansion in education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

• Analyse the problems associated with the rapid expansion of education.

• Discuss the curricular shortcomings of the era

•
Key Words

Ensure that you have understood the meaning of the following words:

• Rote Learning

• Independence

Education at Independence
 This segment focuses on pressing issues which received much attention before
independence in 1964. As outlined by Chakwera (2000), some of the factors which
received consideration by the African government include the following:

• Problem of access and equity. By 1964 the number of children going to school was very
low because few schools were available throughout the country. Most of the schools were
in urban or Boma centres while rural areas were largely neglected. You may appreciate this
problem when you consider that there were only two secondary schools and twenty-six
primary schools under government control by 1964. The total number of primary school
pupils in 1963 was only 223,259. The number of secondary school pupils was only 3,225.
This situation clearly showed that the majority of the school-age youth were denied
education.
• The issue of quality. Apart from a limited number of Africans who accessed schools, it
was further observed that the education offered to them was inferior compared to that
offered in schools for expatriate children. The curriculum in place was meant to enable
Africans to work under the supervision of white employers. The majority of the Africans
completed their formal education at the primary level. In fact the curriculum was seen to
emphasise intellectual development at the expense of manual labour and technical
development.
• Labour shortages. At independence, the labour shortage became critical when white
workers left their positions following the introduction of the African government. There
were very few Africans who had the qualifications needed to replace Europeans. It was
also observed that industrial development was largely neglected because the government
did NOT take part in technical education.
•

Progress Made after Independence

In the previous section, we examined the state of affairs in education at independence. In
addition, you may wish to know that at independence many African countries, including
Malawi, were faced with an acute shortage of nationals to handle the economy. Looking
back at the mission education, you may agree that the educational system inherited by the
nation at independence was not adequate to meet the needs of the new Malawi for self-
governance and rapid economic growth. There was a vacuum in the employment sector,
which triggered an urgent need to educate nationals to fill the gaps. This need led to an
expansion of education at all levels. Let us now take a brief look at each level.

The expansion of the primary sector was not spectacular in the first two decades after
independence. It was felt that the infrastructure the missionaries had developed for primary
seemed adequate. Furthermore, the government had handed over the development of
primary schools to local authorities, who at this time were emphasizing quality. However,
entry enrolment did increase from 31,841 in 1964 to 537,301 in 1974.
 Of great concern to the government after independence was the need to produce adequate
numbers of middle and high-level employees, who would have to come from secondary
schools and universities. To that effect, many secondary schools were built. By 1975 there
were more than sixty secondary schools, with at least one in each district. Enrolment
increased from 1,713 in 1961 to over 13,000 by 1974. Technical wings were attached to
secondary schools because the need for technical education was considered a priority. The
government also opened a government correspondence college in 1965, whose main
objectives were;

• to offer secondary education to those who could not be absorbed by the regular
secondary schools
• to provide education to adults who had missed the opportunity when they were
young.
• to provide opportunities to adults who were engaged with work elsewhere.
•
Also in order to produce middle and high-level managerial workers the establishment of the
University of Malawi was sped up. The university opened in 1965 and its achievements were
many. Each year the university provided the civil service, industry, commerce and teaching
with qualified nationals. By 1975, it had produced some 1,275 diplomats and 554 graduates.
In line with the need for technical skills, the polytechnic, a constituent college of the
University of Malawi, diversified its programmes to include mechanical and electrical
engineering, laboratory technology, public health and business studies. Bunda College offered
diplomas and degrees in agriculture.

Problems Encountered
In previous sections you have examined the state of education at independence as well as the
progress made after independence. In this section you will be introduced to some of the main
problems encountered in the primary, secondary and teacher education after independence.
These problems included issues of access, quality, equity, curriculum relevance and financial
provisions.

Primary School Level

You have already noted that since independence, in 1964, enrolment in primary schools
increased rapidly. The continuation of this trend resulted in overcrowded classes, a shortage of
teaching and learning materials and inadequate supervision in schools. For instance the system
was faced with problems such as

• inadequate supplies of textbooks and library materials

• inadequate funding for learning materials. Poor and unequal distribution of limited
teaching and learning resources
 • poorly trained teachers
• a shortage of qualified teachers
• inadequate teacher accommodations.
Consequently, the quality of education in primary schools began to decline as enrolments
started increasing.

Secondary School Level

You have also noted that at independence there were only a handful of secondary schools.
The government opened a few additional schools in 1974. By 1994 there were 118
secondary schools. These schools were complemented with 225 government-funded
distance education centres and about 45 private secondary schools.

Naturally, this gradual expansion of secondary schools also called for a parallel increase in
teachers and teaching resources. However, unlike primary schools, access was not as
critical as curriculum relevancy. But later there arose an increasing demand for secondary
school places, and so in the early 1990s there was a sudden eruption of more distance
education centres and private secondary schools. This demand for secondary schools places
created unprecedented problems in quality. The inadequacies already discussed in the
primary school sector prevailed in the secondary school sector.

The secondary school curriculum has also faced the following problems, similar to those
experienced in the primary school sector.

• It is out of date.

• It is overloaded.

• It overlaps with other courses.

• It is academically oriented.

• It is examination oriented.

• It encourages rote learning not independent thought. (Rote learning is learning

by repetition and memorisation.)
• There are inadequate teaching and learning materials and inadequate learning
facilities.

Teacher Education Level

In an attempt to expand and raise the calibre of teachers at the primary school level,
attention was also given to the teacher education programme. For instance, at the primary
school level the first education plan intended to phase out categories of teachers below
grade T2. The plan was implemented but this was not effective because of the insufficient
number of applicants with appropriate qualifications, such as MSCE.
 Furthermore, in 1970 the government embarked on a programme to phase out small
colleges in favour of larger institutions for grade T2 intake. This move was seen as a cost-
effective venture but unfortunately there was also a lack of appropriate applicants. The
government was forced to continue preparing T3 grade teachers at the expense of quality.

The introduction of the Malawi Special Distance Teacher Education Programme

(MASTEP) was another attempt to increase teacher supply in primary schools. However,
the programme faced many organisational and implementation problems which adversely
affected the quality of teacher training.

In spite of all these problems, perhaps one of the things we can learn is that these problems
posed challenges to the future prospects of the development of education in Malawi.

Summary
Our study of education in the post-independence era shows that there was great expansion
in all sectors of education. It is clear that major obstacles stood in the way of educational
progress. Perennial problems such as a shortage of qualified teachers, inadequate numbers
of classroom blocks, inadequate teaching and learning materials and the absence of other
facilities prevented the achievement of quality in education. The unit that follows, which
is the last, will explore emerging issues in education since 1994. In that unit the challenges
of and prospects for education in Malawi will be discussed in order to consider the way
forward for education.

Unit 9
Emerging Issues in Education

Introduction
In Unit 8, we dealt in general terms with the development of education in Malawi after
independence. In this unit, we will focus on emerging issues in education, especially those likely
to have impact on the development of education.

These issues include the relevance of today's curriculum in relation to important social issues,
such as HIV/AIDS, population growth, human rights and the environment. As a teacher-learner,
you would appreciate that we need to understand the nature of these problems, their implications
for education and how schools can handle these emerging themes. It is by understanding these
problems ourselves that we will be able to give our children the type of education that prepares
them for real life.

Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• identify problems which pose challenges to education

• analyse their implications for education
• explain how schools can handle emerging issues in education.

Key Words
You will find the following key words or phrases in this unit. Watch for them and make sure that
you understand what they mean and how they are used within the unit.

action research

curriculum development

democracy

discipline

environmental education

hidden curriculum

HIV/AIDS

human rights

population education
Relevance of the Curriculum
In this section, you will be introduced to issues of curriculum relevance, the training of teachers
and the shortage of instructional materials. The purpose of this section is to start an initiative
towards changes and innovation in curriculum and related issues.

You will recall that we offered a short definition of curriculum in Unit 1. Let us look at another
way of defining the concept. Brown et al. (1982) say curriculum is simply ‘all the experiences a
child has under the guidance of the school’. This definition is wide-ranging since it includes what
you should study and how you should study it.

You should also remember that curriculum has an equally important informal component called
the hidden curriculum. This component affects your attitudes, growth and social behaviour as a
learner, among other things.

You will recall that in the previous unit we identified several shortfalls within our current
curriculum, which are

• out of date
• overloaded
• academically and examination oriented
• structured to overlap excessively
• focused on rote learning.

In addressing these shortfalls we need to review our current curriculum. This process of renew
and revision is called curriculum development. What implications does curriculum
development have on the training of teachers and the involvement of the private sector?

You may have heard about various curriculum development efforts in the past. Unfortunately,
teachers and the private sector played nominal roles, if any, in these projects. Judging from the
current curriculum you can see that such efforts have NOT brought tangible changes and
innovations to the curriculum. It is time for all teachers to take more active roles in curriculum
development.

To allow more teacher involvement, teacher training programmes need to shift their focus and
place emphasis to courses such as action research this would enable teachers to embark on class-
based curriculum development initiatives, in other words, study what is happening at their own
schools and decide how to make it a better place (Calhoun, 1994 p.1).The skills acquired would
then be applied on large-scale curriculum development initiatives. The private sector needs to be
consulted, as they are the main consumers of school products.
Similarly, you should also realise that in all teaching and learning situations, there will always be
financial constraints that will limit the use of appropriate instructional materials. Under such
circumstances you should always remember to apply what Zais (1976) calls 'the principle of
resource availability' [pg tbc]. This principle heavily depends on creativity, imagination,
adaptability, resourcefulness and initiative. In this case, the private sector could again be
requested to make some material contributions to education.

An initiative such as the Malawi Institute of Education’s (MIE's) 'Teaching and Learning Using
Locally Available Resources' (TALULAR) is an example of a such change and innovation. This
initiative will call for teacher-training programmes that will be oriented towards such initiatives
as well as increased private sector involvement.

If changes and innovations to deal with emerging social issues are NOT incorporated in the
current curriculum, Malawi's educational system may remain underdeveloped indefinitely.

Practise Teaching Activity 8--a

Following completion of your diploma course, suppose you are posted to a secondary
school where you are faced with bad school conditions such as poor buildings, dark classrooms,
a shortage of teaching and learning materials and learning facilities. What would you do to
overcome such adversities in the school?

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Population Education

This section will introduce you to population education, one of the emerging issues in
education today. You may wish to know that population education has been accepted as part of
the formal curriculum in many countries. It often bears different titles such as family life
education, sex education and quality life education. These titles reflect the emphasis given by the
countries to their specific population-related problems.

What is Population Education?

The definition of population education varies between countries and from culture to culture.
For the purpose of this unit, we will consider a definition which was adopted by MIE (1998)
which says:
 The Malawi Institute of Education population education is an educational process which
is aimed at helping people to understand the impact of population change on their lives,
and to develop decision-making skills they will need to cope with and improve their
population situation.

Rationale for Population Education

Many social, economic and political developments have taken place in Malawi. A number of
critical issues have emerged which need to be addressed by the school curriculum. Some of the
emerging issues which have a major impact on the quality of life of the present and future
generations of Malawi population include:

• a high population growth rate of 3.2% per annum which will lead to the doubling of the
population in Twenty-one years (DHS, 1992)
• a youthful population with 48% aged fourteen years and under, which poses serious
implications for future needs in education, infrastructure, employment and so on
• high total fertility rate of 6.7%, one of the highest in the world, which can leave parents
unable to pay school fees for their children's education.
You may agree that there is general lack of knowledge among school-age children in Malawi
about these emerging population problems. As a teacher-learner you should know that
population education aims at promoting changes in outlook, attitudes and behaviour in
individuals towards population issues with a view to contributing to the improvement of life in
the country.

Purpose of Population Education

As a teacher learner, you should know that population education is aimed at convincing the
learners that they can control their reproductive behaviour such as when to marry, how many
children to have, and so on. Many children believe that they have no control over their own fate.
Schools should help them to modify this attitude and teach them that what they become in life
depends to a large extent on their own decisions and actions. As a teacher-learner, therefore, you
have the following responsibilities:

• to help the learners understand the impact of population change on their lives
• to develop in learners the decision-making skills they will need to cope with and improve
their situation
• to enable learners to acquire skills, attitudes and values necessary to understand and
evaluate the prevailing population situation and the effects it will have on the present and
future welfare of themselves, their families, their communities and the nation.
As you may have already noted, the main purposes of population education are to create
awareness, provide knowledge, increase capacity and attitudes and help people choose the best
alternatives for their lives. As an agent of change for the young, the school is well placed in
society to help and teach learners desirable, rational and responsible attitudes and behaviour
towards population matters during the formative years of their development.

The ultimate goal of population education is to assist learners to make informed decisions about
population matters as young people and in adult life. This goal can be achieved in various ways,
as suggested below.

Debates, Quizzes, Posters and Essay Competitions

A debate club can be formed in the school to focus on population education issues. Different
classes can compete in quizzes, poster-making sessions and essay competitions on population
education.

Counselling Services
Schools can introduce school-based guidance and counselling services for adolescents and youth.
The counselling services can address reproductive health and gender issues.

Drama and Clubs

Drama and cultural clubs can be formed so that the learners incorporate population messages in
their presentations. Drama appeals to most people and can help change people's attitudes and
behaviour.

Teaching Topics
A teacher can draw on other subjects like geography, social studies, biology and home
economics to help convey the message of population education.

Self Evaluation — Activity 8-b

Explain the importance of extracurricular activities in disseminating population education
messages.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Environmental Education
Lets first look at what we mean by environmental education. You will know that the
environment refers to any surroundings, which may include living or non-living things.

Self Evaluation — Activity 8--c

Draw a table indicating the living and non-living things which make up the environment.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of the unit.

You may note from Activity 8-c that living things in the environment may include vegetation,
wildlife and people while non-living components may include air, water, land, light, minerals
and even structures constructed by people.

You may also wish to know that these living and non-living things are NOT isolated from one
another but are strongly related to each other. Any change in one component may have an effect
on the others.

With this background information we can now define environmental education as a process of
creating awareness in learners about environmental issues and how they are related so that
learners will eventually appreciate the need for conservation.

Why Environmental Education?

Now that you know what environmental education is all about, you may be interested to know
why schools should include environmental education in their curriculum.

The following are some of the reasons why schools should actively promote environmental
education.

• Human beings depend on the environment for survival. A threat to the environment is a
threat to humanity.
• The environment is a source of livelihood for humanity through such activities as
agriculture, mining, tourism and forestry. Proper management of the environment is
therefore critical. Hence the need for environmental education.
• Environmental degradation such as air pollution and the careless cutting down of trees
can adversely affect rainfall patterns. This may lead to droughts, food shortages and the
decline of related agricultural activities.
• Air and water pollution may lead to health problems. Environmental education may help
in reducing the incidence of diseases associated with such pollution.
• Repairing the damage to the environment can be expensive. Funds that are needed
elsewhere may be diverted from the environmental repair. Environmental education
would help in preventing such an eventuality.
• Environmental education helps to create public awareness about the need for
conservation.
From the above you would appreciate that human beings and the environment are
interdependent. Consequently their future is intertwined. Environmental education helps to
maintain this delicate balance.
Implications for Education
Now you have been introduced to what environmental education is all about and the rationale for
its inclusion in the curriculum. As a teacher-learner you will most certainly now want to know
the role your school can play to make your pupils and society at large aware of environmental
issues.

In the first place, you may consider environmental education from an interdisciplinary approach.
Related subjects such as geography, biology and agriculture can be partnered together to help
adopt an integrated approach to education.

Secondly, you may consider environmental education from an extracurricular activity point of
view. Various clubs such as wildlife and conservation of natural resources clubs can be
established in the school. As a teacher-learner you would have to play an advisory and
consultative role as an active patron of such clubs. Once in a while such clubs could pool their
resources and organise joint environmental awareness weeks to sensitise fellow students and the
public about their activities.

Thirdly, you may highlight crucial environmental issues through dramatisation. They could be
staged once in a while at various places for the student body, parent-teacher association (PTA)
and the public at large. A fee could be charged, bringing in some revenue to sustain the clubs.

Finally, you may organise various competitions where commercial organisations and non-
governmental offices could be requested to sponsor prizes so as to attract a wider patronage and
awareness. This activity should receive wide coverage in the papers.

The need for environmental education dictates that as a teacher-learner you should be on the
lookout for further innovative strategies that will make a difference.

Practise Teaching Activity 8--s a teacher-learner you have just studied your curriculum
and found differences in the coverage of certain environmental education topics. How can
you ensure that the students are NOT deprived of this knowledge while you are still trying
to sort it out with the appropriate curriculum developers?

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of the unit.

 Human Rights
We often hear of governments being rebuked for violations of human rights. What are these
human rights? Is it only governments who can violate human rights or can teachers violate their
pupils' rights too?

Self Evaluation — Activity 8--e

Identify some major aspects of human rights that should be promoted.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Human rights can be defined as the group of rights that people have, including
respect for life, respect for each individual and fairness in dealing with members of different
sexes or people with special needs.

Self Evaluation — Activity 8--f

List the things that you are justly entitled to.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Sometimes used interchangeably with human rights is the concept of personal

freedom. From the point of view of a just society, human rights and personal freedoms help to
ensure people have security and a decent life as individuals. As you know, a good individual is
the material from which a good society is made.

Self Evaluation — Activity 8--g

List some of the most important freedoms that you must have.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Freedom has a catch. Our right to exercise our freedoms is NOT unlimited. We must
exercise our own freedom with due respect to other peoples' rights. Our rights of freedom should
NOT make others lose their own rights. In school, for example, the teacher should NOT be
obstructed in his or her teaching duties by pupils as they exercise their own freedom of
expression, movement or association. Similarly, pupils should NOT be prevented from learning
by teachers who wish to exercise their rights to rest, travel, worship and so on.

Democracy

The exercise of human rights and personal freedoms would spell disaster if it were
NOT for the fact that we limit our enjoyment of these to accommodate the rights and freedoms
of others. There is a combined effort of all members of a society who work together to achieve a
common good.

When members of a group participate in reaching decisions which help run the affairs of the
group, we experience a democracy. Democracy has been defined in various ways. Here are
some of these definitions:

• a government for the people by the people

• a system of government where authority is with the people
• rule by the people
• a form of government which requires the participation of the people.
Self Evaluation — Activity 8-h
List some classroom activities where you would involve learners in reaching a decision.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Implication of Human Rights, Freedom and Democracy for Education

Human rights cannot be divorced from the activities of school because education involves human
interaction. Consider teachers and their students. Each has rights and freedoms. But if these
rights are NOT limited there could be problems and conflicts. Who are other major players in
education? Parents, inspectors, administrators, politicians and many other groups also have rights
and freedoms. Schools teach about human rights directly, such as when department heads talk at
assemblies, and indirectly through various subjects, such as when teaching topics that
incorporate issues of freedom or democracy.

Self Evaluation — Activity 8-i

Schools must teach human rights. But sometimes the teaching is indirect, through subjects which
have other major objectives apart from rights and freedoms. List some subjects which help in
disseminating knowledge on human rights, ideas of freedom and democracy.

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Discipline in School
The rise in problems of discipline in schools in recent years is attributed to gross
misunderstanding, misconception or abuse of the terms human rights, freedom and democracy
(Kuthemba-Mwale et al. 1996). But discipline is necessary in school because without it learning
becomes impossible (Peters 1966:266). It might be useful for you as a teacher- learner to explore
and understand the causes of a lack of discipline in school so that you can deal with the cause
instead of working against the symptoms.

Discipline can be defined as activities that train individuals and help them learn to control
inappropriate behaviours.

Self Evaluation — Activity 8-j

Can you suggest some reasons for the rise in discipline problems in schools in recent years?
 A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Ideally learners must come to school motivated to learn. Unfortunately this does NOT
always happen. Teachers must therefore find ways of motivating learners. Teachers can do quite
a lot by doing their work professionally. For example

• know your subject well

• know how to deliver it effectively
• understand your students' learning difficulties
• understand their developmental stages.
Where positive ways of maintaining discipline fail, the teacher might resort to negative means.
However, remember that schools are there to help individuals become self-disciplined through an
education that allows people to see the true meaning of human rights, freedom and democracy.

Gender Issues
Among the issues receiving increased attention in Malawi today are gender issues, that is, issues
relating to the different sexes. Suddenly we have become aware that serious imbalances exist
between the sexes. These imbalances are clearly observable in

• school enrolment
• school attendance
• school attainment
• occupational opportunities
• school dropout.

Self Evaluation — Activity 8-k

What would be the root causes of imbalances in school attendance between boys and girls in
Malawi?

A possible answer to this activity is at the end of this unit.

Schools must do something to address and redress the situation. Teachers should be made aware
of the problem and then involve pupils in helping to change inappropriate beliefs about the roles
and abilities of males and females. Among the ways of achieving this goal are to

• encourage girls to take all or any subject on the curriculum

• remove rules which work against girls
• encourage the use of gender-neutral language, pictures and examples in textbooks
• hold gender sensitisation talks, discussions and activities.

Teenage Pregnancies
As an experienced teacher, you might have noticed that teenage pregnancies are on the rise. In
one way, the root cause lies in what we were discussing in the previous paragraphs, namely
gender biases. As a teacher yourself, you should be aware of the causes so that you can combat
them. Among the causes for the increase in the instances of pregnancies among schoolgirls are:

• early maturity
• unscrupulously behaved males
• idleness
• cultural beliefs about the girl child
• inadequate parental guidance
• inadequate sex education
• lack of any sex education.
In an attempt to combat teenage pregnancy, the school and the teacher should:

• encourage the girl child to remain in school

• encourage the girl child to succeed in school
• use clubs and societies in school to promote respect for women.
Can you add any other points?

At the national level, the government can also do something to stop the trend towards teenage
pregnancy. Actions could include:

• severe punishment to males who abuse girls

• free education for girls
• single sex schools
• assistance to young mothers in caring for their child
• back-to-school programmes for young mothers.
What is HIV/AIDS?
As a teacher-learner, it is important for you to know what HIV/AIDS means. This will enable
you to create knowledge awareness about HIV/AIDS in your school and to help those who may
need guidance and counselling.

• HIV stands for Human Immune Deficiency Virus

• AIDS means Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
HIV/AIDS destroys the individual's capacity to resist infection. It ultimately leads to death.

Reasons for Disseminating Information on HIV/AIDS

• Most of us, if NOT all of us, have experienced the death of a friend, a child, a relative or
an acquaintance through HIV/AIDS. We can no longer wish the disease away. We need
to mount a drastic and sustained campaign to disseminate information on HIV/AIDS.
• As there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, you would agree with the old adage that prevention is
better than the cure. Dissemination of information about the disease may help some
people.
• HIV/AIDS is expensive to government in terms of the health care for victims. Financial
resources that could be used in more productive sectors are diverted to health care.
• We cannot run away from the fact that human beings are the country's most precious
resource. They are the instruments for socio-economic development. Yet it is this
precious resource that is being decimated by HIV/AIDS.
• As a teacher-learner it is possible that you have an insurance policy with a reputable
company. The money you pay as your premium is invested in the country's development.
Because of the large numbers of deaths through HIV/AIDS, this money is now being
used to pay out terminal benefits or assured sums. This results in the slowing down of the
country's development.
•
• Many children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS as they have lost their parents, many of
whom were economically active. If you examined your school or community you will
come across such unfortunate children. The future of these children is often bleak.
• Those who are left behind by HIV/AIDS victims have a social stigma attached to them
and their self- image is irretrievably dented.
• As an educator, you would appreciate the need to change human behaviour for the better.
HIV/AIDS is spread through blood contamination and sexual associations between men
and women and between men and men in some societies. Dissemination of information
about HIV/AIDS may help in stopping the spread of the disease.

Implications for Education

It is our duty to ensure that we create awareness about HIV/AIDS in the school. We have an
interest in doing so because of the serious implications this disease has for education.
The following are some of the effects of HIV/AIDS on education:

• social problems that affect children who have been orphaned by AIDS
• inability of such children to continue with their education after the death of their
guardians
• inability of unhealthy pupils or students to learn well
• diversion of financial resources from education to health care
• loss of teachers and the consequent need to pay them terminal benefits and replace them.
It is for these reasons that schools should be at the fore-front in the dissemination of information
about HIV/AIDS.

The Role of the School in the Fight against HIV/AIDS

The school is a community of learners where the welfare of one should be the concern of the
other. As a teacher-learner you have an interest in how the school can help in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. You play a critical role in reducing the incidence of HIV/AIDS or in ensuring that
the next generation is AIDS-free.

Let us consider the strategies that the school can use in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Strategies
may include

• discouraging risky behaviour among students which may also manifest itself in teenage
pregnancies
• acquiring and distributing literature on HIV/AIDS education
• creating awareness about the disease through dramas, competitions, song and dance
• promoting sexual abstinence before marriage and the adoption of preventive measures if
need be, knowing all the time that there is no preventive measure that is 100% foolproof
• creating a dialogue between the school and the community about HIV/AIDS.
This list may NOT be exhaustive, but it brings to the forefront the active role the school must
play in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Summary

In this unit, we have examined current issues in society that need to be addressed through
education. We have discussed the loss of discipline in the classroom and teenage pregnancies
among the youth. We also looked at population education, HIV/AIDS and environmental
education. We have observed the awakening of the masses to human rights, freedom and
democracy which have a bearing on success or failure in education. It has been our aim as
educators to contemplate these issues and see how we can plan and deliver educational
programmes for a better Malawi.
•
•
•
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Pachai, B., Smith, G.W., and Tangri, R.K. Malawi Past and Present Studies in Local and
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Wehmeier, S. et. al (ed). Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary: International Student’s Edition
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