Schools In Malawi Research Articles

“It takes a village”: An ecological analysis of social and emotional learning environments in Malawi

Socially and emotionally competent children thrive in school and life. Crucial to this success is integrating social and emotional learning (SEL) across their developmental ecology, from homes, schools, and communities to society. This case study draws on interviews with 21 parents, 42 teachers, and 12 professionals from diverse educational institutions in Malawi. It illuminates coordination strategies and enabling factors for system-wide support for SEL in and around Malawi's schools. Teachers deliver a compulsory SEL-infused curriculum, sometimes co-instructed with parents, and emphasize daily discipline and behavior modeling. Governmental and nongovernmental organizations collaborate with grassroots initiatives, such as Mothers’ Groups, to provide technical support, teacher training, financial aid, and community-wide discussions to acquaint parents with SEL. These efforts align through multiparty dialogues, aimed at bridging home–school disparities. The findings offer insights for establishing a coherent, system-wide support structure for SEL in Malawi and potentially other countries.

Assessing the Impact of Hearing Assistive Technologies on the Academic Progress of Learners with Hearing Loss in Primary Schools in Malawi: A Case of Lilongwe Rural East

Assessing the Impact of Hearing Assistive Technologies on the Academic Progress of Learners with Hearing Loss in Primary Schools in Malawi: A Case of Lilongwe Rural East

Challenges facing the implementation of Chemistry and Physics as separate and stand-alone subjects in the revised Secondary School curriculum in Malawi

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of chemistry and physics to society, but in Malawi, secondary schools do not adequately teach these subjects. The purpose of this study is to investigate the obstacles to the efficient teaching of physics and chemistry and to suggest ways to improve their application. Using Cornbleth's framework for curricular implementation as a guide, the study looks into the challenges instructors in these areas confront. The qualitative case study, which took place in two secondary schools in Malawi's Blantyre District, involved 28 participants which were two head teachers, three chemistry teachers, three physics teachers, and twenty students. Data was collected through classroom observations in addition to interviews. The results show that there are a number of issues, such as a lack of certified teachers, inadequate resources and labs, a dearth of textbooks, inadequate teacher orientation, poor teaching and evaluation techniques, and a lack of supervision. To improve Chemistry and Physics education in secondary schools, recommendations include hiring more trained instructors, constructing well-equipped laboratories, and enhancing teacher preparation and oversight.

Impact of Un-ethical Decision Making in Managing Teacher Disciplinary Matters in Public Secondary Schools in Malawi

Public administration inclusive the education sector, is catalyst for national development, it hinges citizen’s intellectual and professional development. Malawi vision 2063, for self and reliant nation incorporates New public management that calls for competent public administrators to influence delivery of quality service to Malawians. The study examines the impact of Heads unethical decisions in managing teacher disciplinary matters in public secondary schools in Malawi a case of Mzuzu City. Research implores mixed methods exploratory sequential under pragmatics paradigm. Quantitative survey uses quota sampling of estimated 9 respondents from each school within the 22 public secondary schools in Mzuzu City. Sample size of participants came to approximately 200 participants out of 514 total secondary school teachers’ population. Within each school, random sampling was utilized to identify 9 to 10 teachers. Qualitative used purposive sampling to identify one respondent from each of twenty-two secondary schools. Quantitative used semi-structured questionnaire while qualitative used interview guide to collect data. Qualitative data was transcribed and coded, codes were grouped into sub-themes and sub-themes were grouped into themes which answered research questions aided by Nvivo application. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics which ended up producing tables and graphs through SPSS 20. Through bounded rationality theoretical framework, findings reveal that respondents agreed to have knowledge of disciplinary procedures. Implying that teachers expect total compliance from responsible authorities to handle teacher disciplinary matters professionally. However, Heads gave oral warnings, written warnings, suspensions and interdictions. Heads deliberately flouted the procedures. Heads unethical decisions affected teaching and learning industry; where teachers stopped teaching for a long period of time, half pay reduced victim’s economic dignity, students suffered because they had no other teachers to teach them, some teachers left the school for better place, demoralized staff, litigations and government compensated victims of arbitrary decisions, victim teachers were sociologically affected because no other teachers wanted to associate with suspended/interdicted teacher, violation of Constitutional rights and school poor performances. The impact is negative thwarting the aspirations of Malawi Vision 2063 through derailing of quality human resources, compromised future generation and continuous breeding of mediocrity. Public service administrators deliberately bring disorder in the system for personal interests. They are committing crimes of abuse of office and neglect of official duties. Citizens be enlightened to call for accountability and transparency to those acting with mediocrity of negligence, corruption and compromised character. There must be personal liability to compensate for mediocrity.

Factors Affecting the Provision of Quality Education in Community Day Secondary Schools in Malawi: A Case study of Mangochi District

Quality is now emphasised in the worldwide educational scene as the cornerstone of effective education, meeting basic demands essential to students' overall development. This study explores the variables affecting Malawi's Community Day Secondary Schools' ability to provide high-quality instruction. The research involved two head teachers, two teachers, and twenty students using a qualitative case study design. Focus group talks and in-person semi-structured interviews were used to accomplish methodological triangulation. Important issues revealed by thematic content analysis included inadequate facilities, a lack of resources for teaching and learning, and a lack of community-school engagement. While understanding possible wider consequences, recommendations seek to improve the quality of education.

Factors affecting girls learning in co-educational secondary schools in Malawi A Case Study of Zomba District

Factors affecting girls learning in co-educational secondary schools in Malawi A Case Study of Zomba District

Assessment of Academic Interventions to Enhance Learners` Academic Performance in the SDA School. The Case of Malawi.

Formal education in all countries has been considered very important for personal and societal development. Education remains the biggest instrument for academic progress, social mobilization, political survival and effective national development of any country. One of the church institutions offering formal education is the Seventh Day Adventist Church. This study assessed academic interventions to enhance learners` academic performance in the SDA secondary schools in Malawi. The Effective School Model’ by Lezotte (2010) was used as a framework in the study. A sample of 54 participants comprising 12 teachers, 30 learners, and 6 members of the school board, 3 station pastors, and 3 School administrators was purposively selected in this descriptive qualitative study. Data was collected using open-ended questionnaire, interview guides, and document analysis that were analysed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Result of the study reveals that some students were highly motivated to learn and do better. However, students’ performance was affected by several factors. Meanwhile, the study findings show that focussing on use of English language, formation of the Parent Teacher Association, adequate teaching and learning resources, teachers` postings, use of aptitude test, time management, incentives, educational leadership, and frequent inspection would improve the performance of students in the SDA schools. Based on the study results, the study recommends consultative meetings with various stakeholders to bring their inputs on the matter, provision of adequate teaching materials, and selection of students must base on realistic results of the aptitude test administered.

Sustaining enrolment when rains fail: School feeding, rainfall shocks and schooling in Malawi

Emerging evidence suggests that rural children, especially older girls in low-income countries, are at risk of being withdrawn from school when adverse weather-related events occur. Identifying actions that mitigate the adverse effects of weather shocks on schooling, therefore, is critical for sustaining equitable human capital formation. In this paper, we use four waves of household and community panel survey data, merged with long-term, spatially explicit rainfall data to investigate whether access to school feeding programmes (SFP) in Malawi supports primary school enrolment when negative rainfall shocks occur. We find some evidence that access to SFP increases enrolment for older children when their households experience anomalously low rainfall conditions compared to those without SFP. The positive associations of SFP on enrolment persist when we consider historical shocks over longer periods. When we disaggregate by sex, however, there are no differentials. The findings suggest that SFPs, already a common intervention in many contexts, may have modest potential for improving primary school completion rates, educational advancement and human capital formation in the context of a rapidly changing climate.

Predictors of Students' Performance in Nursing and Midwifery Technician Licensure Examination in Southern Malawi.

Success in the nursing and midwifery licensure examination is the only legal prerequisite to practice as a nurse and midwife in Malawi. However, the past decade has registered poor performance of students in Nursing and Midwifery Technician (NMT) licensure examinations for candidates who failed on the first attempt. The study sought to unravel whether students' socio-demographic and academic characteristics could predict NMT licensure examination performance on the first attempt. We conducted a quantitative ex post facto using stratified random sampling. We reviewed 280 former NMT licensure exam candidate records from 2013 to 2017 with a study population of 2,668 NMTs. We reported descriptive statistics and used Chi-square / Fisher's exact test and logistic regression to determine the significance of associations and predictors respectively. We found that the NMT licensure examination could be predicted by students' academic characteristics, especially entry Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) point scores [p < 0.001, OR 0.830, 95% CI (0.771-0.892)], and exit college final scores [p < 0.001, OR 1.214, 95% CI (1.131-1.303)]. We established that students' socio-demographic characteristics like age [χ2 (2, N =280) =13.143, p < 0.001], and marital status [χ2 (1, N = 280) = 5.645, p = 0.018] were significantly associated with NMT licensure examination performance but were not predictors of NMT licensure examination outcome. Furthermore, we did not find any association between NMT licensure examination performance and the sex of the students [χ2 (1, N = 280) = 0.523, p = 0.470]. NMT licensure examinations performance predictors are academic variables like entry MSCE and exit college final scores. Consequently, teaching institutions should frame relevant admission criteria, and timely support the students at risk of failure in licensure exams.

Active citizens’ formation through social studies pedagogical practices: perspectives of teachers and learners from selected secondary schools in Malawi

ABSTRACT This article identifies the challenges of developing active citizens based on the latest revised social studies curriculum in Malawi (2015) in the context of Malawi’s secondary school classrooms. By using collected data from interviews with teachers and students and classroom observation, the paper examines the extent to which social studies empowers students to express their opinions. The analysis identifies three issues: 1. both teachers and students perceive social studies teaching as ‘easy’; 2. teachers expect students to be active in classroom practices but to be obedient outside classes and 3. individualistic values in textbooks could conflict with the values of Umunthu in Malawi. The paper concludes that classroom practices might dissuade students to be critical thinkers, thereby fostering obedient citizens and limiting students’ potential power to tackle social issues.

Reframing policy trajectory for inclusive education in Malawi

This qualitative study proffers ways of reframing the policy trajectory for inclusive education in Malawi. The study involved a document review of inclusive education policies and strategies and in-depth semi-structured interviews with mainstream teachers at a secondary school in Malawi. The results from the document review show that the framing of the education policies and strategies regarding inclusive education pedagogy as an educational practice is influenced solely by learners' cognitive proficiencies. However, the analysis of the semi-structured interviews points towards multi-scalar pedagogical responses to inclusive education. Therefore, I argue that the framing of inclusive education policies and strategies ignores crucial interactive schooling systems such as the onto-pedagogical framings of mainstream teachers and specialists that shape pedagogy in the context of inclusivity. The study concludes that inclusive education policy formulation and implementation requires interactions among and across schooling systems, such as mainstream and specialist teachers, and not merely attending to the epistemological needs of learners. I recommend a bio-ecological systems policy reframing that could help the Malawian and other southern African education systems to use different factors that influence inclusive education.

Is wealth found in the soil or in the brain? Investing in farm people in Malawi

AbstractShould a typical developing country invest more in agriculture or education? At what stage of development is it optimal to invest more in each of these sectors? These are important questions that governments of developing countries grapple with when designing investment plans. In this paper, I propose a soil–human capital conceptual framework of development and use it to explain estimates of agricultural returns to schooling in Malawi. I use panel survey data for Malawi and rely on the exogenous education policy changes and spatial variation in access to schooling to identify effects of schooling on agricultural incomes. In addition, I correct for selection into income activities within a panel data and instrumental variables estimation framework. I find annual agricultural returns to schooling in Malawi of 3%–4% after correcting for selection and unobserved heterogeneity and 7% in the uncorrected specifications. I also find consistently higher returns to schooling in the nonagricultural sector for those not living in the village of birth and higher returns in the agricultural sector for those living in the village of birth. Given the size of the farm sector, wealth in Malawi is still in the soil, but that future growth in wealth depends on human capital investments.

Report on the Malawi Data Science Bootcamp 2021

This report presents and briefly discusses the first Data Science Summer school in Malawi, Africa, which was named Malawi Data Science Bootcamp 2021 (MWData 2021). This event took place at Mzuzu University, Lilongwe ODeL Center in Lilongwe, Malawi, on October 25 - 29, 2021.

Examining Challenges that Affect the Implementation of the National Reading Programme by Teachers: A Case of Selected Schools in Malawi

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in Malawi introduced the National Reading Programme (NRP) in 2015 to improve early grade learners’ literacy skills. However, results from the 2017 and 2018 national reading assessment for Standard 2, Standard 4, and the NRP monitoring strategy revealed that the state of reading achievement was still below average. This study therefore examined challenges that affect the implementation of NRP by teachers. The study was qualitative in nature and was guided by the Social Constructivist Theory. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with sixteen teachers, four head teachers, two Primary Education Advisors (PEAs) and one NRP Officer. Documentary analysis and classroom observations were done to triangulate data collected through interviews.The study revealed that improvements in aspects of education systems including proper training and distribution of teachers, improved school infrastructure and community involvement, etc., are certainly necessary to achieve universal literacy. The study also suggested that it is only through everyone’s hard work and commitment that would ensure the realisation of the important goal of having all Malawian children be able to read and write.The study is important because it provides a set of principles of learning about ideas and practices that promote learners’ academic achievement in reading and writing. Another anticipated value of the study is that it aggregates previous relevant studies on the problems surrounding language curriculum implementation and synthesises the findings of previous studies.

Factors Influencing the Use of Solar Energy Technology in a Local Township of Blantyre City, Malawi

Challenges with access to electricity are global but becoming increasingly high in Malawi where more than 96% of the electricity is produced from hydro generation. Energy sources for electricity production can be renewable or non-renewable. Due to many challenges facing hydropower production such as water levels, debris in the inlet ponds, etc., renewable energy sources that produce clean energy such as solar power are becoming common. However, despite such opportunities, access to electricity whether renewable (solar) or non-renewable (hydro production) to many people in urban areas in Malawi is still a challenge. A household survey was carried out involving 100 households aimed to establish factors that influence the use of solar energy technology in Machinjiri, one of the townships in the city of Blantyre, in southern Malawi. Only 32% of the households have access to solar energy. Results indicated that the level of education attained has an influence on the peoples’ choices to use solar technology. In this regard, respondents with basic primary school certificate reported 8% while those with college education reported 32% and those with higher education, Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) reported 52% use of solar energy for lighting. Some of the reasons for not using solar energy include: low production during winter (55%), not durable (23%), no knowledge (18%) and others mention combined reasons (4%). Only a few people use solar energy for lighting. Therefore, there is a need for the government and non-governmental organizations to continue sensitizing people on the importance of using renewable energy such as solar energy. Furthermore, the government should create deliberate conditions to make solar energy equipment affordable to many Malawians with low incomes.

Dynamics at the frontier between the demands of democracy and sociocultural imperatives: Human rights and school discipline in secondary schools in Malawi

Human rights gained prominence in sub-Saharan Africa in the wave of democratisation following the collapse of communism. After decades of repressive systems of government, the fledgling democracies took several measures to safeguard democracy, one of which was the introduction of human rights education and education for democratic citizenship in their education systems. This paper reports on a study in Malawi where the advent of democracy led to the introduction of a discipline policy in secondary schools that appeared controversial because it took away teachers’ prerogative and unrestricted powers to discipline accused students. Since the policy came as a directive, without proper consultation of stakeholders, it caused an uproar on the secondary education landscape. The aim of this study was to explore and compare dynamics and forms of resistance that were found in two schools following their implementation of the discipline policy. Using the qualitative design and the comparative case study approach, the study generated data from two purposively sampled secondary schools of different types. The findings of the study showed that although the schools apparently followed the guidelines of the policy, the handling of cases was highly contextual, allowing each school to evade the elements of the policy that appeared controversial. The findings bring to the fore covert and subtle forms of resistance to policy implementation through the dynamics involved in the procedures for handling disciplinary cases. The article argues for a negotiated approach when there is a clash between sociocultural beliefs and policy changes dictated by ‘universal’ demands, otherwise policy implementation will be fraught with internal political undercurrents.

Evaluation of facial cleanliness and environmental improvement activities: Lessons learned from Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The World Health Organization promotes the SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvements) strategy for trachoma control and prevention. The F&E components of the strategy focus on promotion of healthy hygiene and sanitation behaviors. In order to monitor F&E activities implemented across villages and schools in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, an F&E Monitoring and Evaluation (FEME) framework was developed to track quarterly program outputs and to provide the basis for a pre and post evaluation of the activities. Results showed an increase in knowledge at the school and household levels, and in some cases, an increase in presence of hand/face washing stations. However, this did not always result in a change in trachoma prevention behaviors such as facial cleanliness or keeping compounds free of human feces. The results highlight that the F&E programs were effective in increasing awareness of trachoma prevention but not able to translate that knowledge into changes in behavior during the time between pre and post-surveys. This study also indicates the potential to improve the data collection and survey design and notes that the period of intervention was not long enough to measure significant changes.

The influence of the Headteachers’ Provision of Security Measures on Retention of Girls in Community Day Secondary Schools in Mchinji District, Malawi

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether provision of security measures by the headteachers as strategy influence retention of girls in community day secondary schools in Mchinji district. The study was triggered by the concerns emanating from the teachers on increase of school dropouts among girls in community day secondary schools in Malawi. The study was anchored on Tinto’s theory of retention. The study employed explanatory sequential mixed method research design. The target population included: the students, teachers, headteachers, education officer and chief elders. The study purposively sampled 15 headteachers, one education officer and five chief elders. Additionally, the researcher sampled 80 teachers and used simple random to sample 315 girls, with a total sample size of 416 (12.4%) of the target population. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software Version 21. The study used descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages to summarize the data and present it in form of tables. Qualitative data were manually analyzed by organizing into themes and interpreted in a narrative form and direct quotes. The findings revealed that community day secondary schools in Mchinji district did not have fences, security guards, hostels, locked gates, doors and windows to increase the security of the students and of the school, an indication that community day secondary schools lacked security measures to retain the students in Mchinji district. The study thus recommended that headteachers should cooperate with the board of management Parent teacher Association (PTA) to make sure that security measures are found in order to retain girls in Community Day Secondary Schools. Keywords: Headteachers’, administrative strategy, provision of security measures. Retention of girls, dropout, Community Day Secondary Schools.

An Analysis of Teachers’ Explanatory Talk That Supports Learning of Standard Units of Length in Standard 4 in Malawi

This study sought to analyse, using the Mathematics Discourse in Instruction framework, teachers’ explanatory talk when introducing standard units of length in standard 4 in Malawi. The study analysed teachers’ use of content and pedagogical practices for introducing standard units of length and how that made the concept of standard units of length accessible to learners. Qualitative data was collected from two teachers from two rural schools in Malawi. Findings of the study showed that the teachers’ explanatory talk included mathematical and non-mathematical language. The mathematical language included standard units of length, metre and centimetre, and the procedures for measuring and comparing lengths of objects. It was also observed that learners had access to the idea of measuring and comparing lengths of straight objects within their classrooms and were able to follow procedures for measuring lengths of objects in metres and centimetres. However, these findings also highlight the need for the teaching of length measurement that aims at providing opportunities to learners to develop the concept of units of length across varying dimensions and tasks. This study argues for the teaching of length measurement that emphasises on building learners’ conceptual understanding of standard units of length.

Readiness of Human Capital in Implementation of E-Marking of National Examinations in Malawi

The aim of this study was to investigate readiness of the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) examiners’ in e-marking of national examinations and general use of technology with focus on their computer proficiency and perception. The study followed an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design and data was collected from sampled examiners through a questionnaire, a focus group discussion (FGD) and a computer proficiency assessment test. The findings show that over 90% of the participants had moderate to very high computer proficiency levels. The findings also show that both age and gender did not have any effect on the technology readiness index (TRI) of Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examiners but on Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examiners. The findings also indicate no effect of the examiners’ years of marking experience on their TRI. The distribution of examiners across TRI segments shows that the number of examiners increases with the increasing order of adoption propensity. In line with this, most examiners showed positive perception of e-marking of national examinations as well as moderate to very high computer proficiency level.