Anti-quota system conference set for mid Sept: Education policy equated to ethnic cleanisng
Two Mzuzu-based non-governmental organisations Youth and Society (YAS) and Church and Society of the CCAP Synod of Livingston’s have said they will host a multi sectoral conference that will discuss way forward on the quota system of selecting students to public universities—a subject which remains emotive.
Coordinator of the conference, who is also YAS executive director, Charles Kajoloweka, said the meeting will be open to all those that feel affected by the policy.
“It is an all stakeholders meeting, and we will make it as open as possible to people from all walks of life who feel affected by the policy,” said Kajoloweka.
According to Kajoloweka, the meeting will seek to address issues pertaining to quota system once and for all.
Said Kajoloweka: “All along the issue has been discussed but in a sensational manner. We want to have a sober discussion that can help us all.
“Unlike preconceived thing that is there, quota system is not just about people from the northern region. It is a national issue that has to be discussed by players from all sections of the Malawian society.”
Apart from the two organisations, other players that deal with education activism will also participate.
“The interesting thing is that we will also invite government to be part of this conference. We feel we should have them because they are the ones that institute such policies,” added Kajoloweka.
Quota system, equitable selection of students to public institutions of learning especially universities, is regarded as government’s deliberate policy to frustrate students from the northern region.
Basically, 10 best students are selected from each district based on their district of origin.
Vice-President Saulos Chilima who is leading United Transformation Movement (UTM) has pledged to abolish the quota system after assuming power in 2019.
He said: “Quota system is satanic and evil”, emphasising that UTM has a clear plan on improving university education,
Leader of opposition and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazrus Chakwera has also promised that is ushered into government in next year’s elections, MCP would abolish the quota system , describing its as a policy equated to ethnic cleansing.
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when & where kopangira conference yi….want to attend
Nganya says
U Lhomwes a just cowards, u know u cannot compete in class this why u cling to this evil thing. when u flooded tobacco farms as tenants no one complained on equity..kkkkk.& now u blame the Northerners for their success.search yourselves in the 70s,80s how lorries could load people there to work in tobacco farms country wide. Do u think it people had to go to school.
My niece scored 14 points and she is at Catholic University and she is from Mulanje, what kind of fukery is this. From my uncles, my parents and all my siblings we have all been to Uni, what kind of hogwash is this. Put out stats that support this inflammatory nonsense and then we can start a debate. Palibe Mmalawi wanzeru kuposa nzake, how come we are the poorest country in the world and no Tumbuka invented Nali, screw out of here
Atumbuka akufuna quota system ithe ndi cholinga kuti azizabela. Athu awa si a mzelu guys. Palibe mtundu umene umukhala wopanda mzelu. My nephew got 12 points. He is doing Sciences at Chanco. Ndiye kuti alibe mzelu?? Chilima ngati akufuna kuthetsa quota system atha kutelo koma adziwe kuti atumubuka will monopolise the selection system just like the way they were doing before. Atumbuka si athu tu awa.
I feel like you are a fool, a coward to face great Tumbukas in class, if you are cleaver enough you must accept competition. The best goes to university and if you feel tumbukas cheat ,where is your Police?
Quota system is equal to ethnic cleansing and there is no doubt about it. People’s rights to unleash their God given talent is being violated because they happen to come from another region or ethnic tribes. They want to make sure they can’t progress in their lives. The Western countries that has been propping up this regime must be invited to this meetings whether this kind of oppression is promoted in their countries? These values practiced by the Mahako wa Alomwe tribal government is a present danger in Malawi and must be defeated by all means necessary. Let the international community know about the atrocities that are suffered by the Northerners. Time to beg to our oppressors is over but we must fight for the future of our children. Cowardice will lead us nowhere. We must not fear because what we are fighting for is a just cause. We need FEDERALISM with rotational presidency among our three regions. This is a fight that will ensure the North can develop its own region without being at the mercy of the tribal regime of Peter Hitler Mutharika. This man has taken Malawi as the Southern region affair only. To him only people from the Southern region will rule Malawi until thy kingdom come. Why you don’t want Northerners not to be educated? If you don’t like school that should be our faults? LET ME BE WHAT I WANT AND NOT WHAT YOU WANT. I WANT EDUCATION AND THE DOORS OF HIGHER LEARNING MUST BE OPEN TO OUR PEOPLE. LET US BE.
YAS and Church and Society should have produced figures to show exactly how the current equitable access to higher education is adversely affecting the Northern region. You cannot call for a meeting based on perception alone. You need facts and figures covering the whole country, for the past 3 or 5 years.
Another aspect to consider is access to other public facilities; we can not just stop at access to public universities. The population of Lilongwe is more than that of the whole Northern region combined, yet Lilongwe has far fewer secondary schools, district hospitals etc etc than those in the North. Should we then say that Lilongwe is being ethnically cleansed by being denied adequate access to health , educational and other public services?
WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF BY KEEPING THE QUOTA SYSTEM? WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF FEDERALISM SO THAT EACH REGION CAN BUILD AS MANY UNIVERSITIES AND HOSPITAL AS THEY WANT? WHY SHOULD EVERYTHING BE CENTRALIZED AND MAKING CHOICES FOR THE PEOPLE LIKE COMMUNISM COUNTRIES. WE THE NORTHERNERS ABHOR COMMUNISM AND WE WILL FIGHT IT TO THE LAST DROP OF OUR BLOOD.
BEFORE YOU SHED YOUR LAST DROP OF BLOOD, CAN YOU PLEASE PROVIDE STATISTICS ON THIS HIGHLY EMOTIVE TOPIC? NO ONE DOUBTS THAT THE NORTH SUFFERS MORE THAN THE OTHER TWO REGIONS IN TERMS OF THE QUOTA SYSTEM. BUT TO WHAT EXTENT EXACTLY? AND IS ACCESS TO PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES THE ONLY AREA OF INEQUALITY AMONG THE THREE REGIONS? SHOULD IT ONLY BE NORTHERNERS SETTING THE AGENDA?
PLEASE, LET’S HAVE MORE FACTS AND LESS EMOTION REGARDING THIS TOPIC…
TO ZAYA: YOU DID NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION. WHY QUOTA SYSTEM SHOULD BE THE RULE OF THE DAY? WHY THIS QUOTA SYSTEM SHOULD BE TARGETED AT THE NORTHERNERS. WHY SHOULD THE NORTHERNERS BE SUBJECTED TO THE DIABOLIC AND MOST NOTORIOUS QUOTA SYSTEM. IF YOU DON’T LIKE NORTHERNERS WHY YOU CAN’T LET THEM GO AND FORM THEIR OWN REPUBLIC OF NYIKA. YOU HAVE COLONIZED US. YOU HAVE UNLEASHED YOUR SATANIC LAWS ON US TO PREVENT OUR CHILDREN TO UNLEASH THEIR GOD GIVEN TALENT. CIRCULAR EDUCATION IS THE NORTHERNERS’ PART OF THEIR CULTURE WITHOUT IT IS THE SAME AS BEING DEAD. WHY ARE YOU HOLDING US BACK TO BE WHAT WE WANT TO BE? YOU MUST LET MY PEOPLE GO TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN ISRAEL.. TELL YOUR MUHAKO PETER HITLER MUTHARIKA TO LET MY PEOPLE GO.
Quota system is an indirect way of conceding that we cannot compete on a levelled ground but on providing affirmative rights to those who do not deserve something. The questions you have to answer are: why is the cut off point for some districts at 12 while others at 28? why do you lag behind in education compared to northerners? Are you for qualitative or quantitative education? Even if you flood your half-baked scholars on the scene, we shall continue controlling this country. You continue to be overpopulated and expect to progress at the expense of jealousy? Some regions and cultures in Malawi are embracing population growth while stubborn ones are busy promoting population outbreak (kuswana ngati nsikizi). It took over 31 years for a northerner to come in open and challenge Kamuzu. Time will come and we will react to these unfair practices. Fellow northerners, start parking gradually from theses unprincipled people who think God thinks like them.
Kajoloweka and friends, the best option for those against Quota System is to lobby government on behalf of parents of students affected by its application to source funds in order to be used for the construction of a university to accommodate students sieved by that system.
If you read through the comments posted on this forum, they emanate from people who were inculcated a culture of throwing derogatory terms against people they perceive to be their enemies. Such a culture was nurtured at an early age. That is why they have no feeling of remorse for the suffering the system is causing to those they view as “enemies” and also to the lowering of educational standards in universities. Look, no public university from Malawi is ranked in the top 100 among countries in Africa. Other than that, Quota System is a source of conflict Read the comment by posted Noxy.
Plan to abolish quota system to appease anthu osayamikawa and remain in opposition forever
You stupid people,do you really know what ethnic cleansing is?
Hey wena man ,this is a parable man.stop creating a stupit argument here.
That is a good move we need equity not the so called equality… we go to university because we deserve it despite having whoever around us to compete with…
Stiff competition is good. It encourages hard working. It removes laziness. It does not accommodate mediocrity.
Any political leader who is against quota will lose the national elections next year.
Any party which will be voted into power on pretext that it will abolish quota system is simply cheating or will swallow its words because the situation on the ground will not allow it.
You will agree with me Patrick that when you heard it for the first time you never expected that their solution to abolish quota system is to introduce Open and Distance Learning, did you? So you can see how the gears have changed within a month.
I didnt expect either that ODL will be a solution. That tells you how clueless or desparate we are as politicians in getting votes.
Ukuti chani chitsiru iwe?
Those who are well educated and want their children to go to universities on merit will support this but fools like you will disagree
The problem is that most people are advancing arguments against quota without full facts and without a full appreciation of the background to it as well as its rationale.
atumbuka inu this is noon stater
Ooh, it is noon starter ore none starter? you brute.
noon starter or none starter? You illiterate. You’re full of hatred just like the Intehangwe in Rwanda
Tabapangani paja muli pa campaign ya UTM ndi MCP
Za Atumbuka izi. Why abolishing it when we r all Malawians sharing the cake equally
Seriously this requires a sober minded discussion. How can the other regions feel and benefit to just be paying taxes just to train students from one low populated region? Taxes payers money is to be shared as a national cake not to benefit one region.
We can be in one Malawi but even in the village or your families some policies are designed to benefit the poor or those who are weak so that they equally become relevant and contribute to the family, village or the country’s development. This is why we have these subsidies and gender movements so that to equate the equation and make everyone counted in the development of the country.
Quota system is there to lift those districts that are highly populated to also have technocrats relevant to the society who can help develop Malawi. How do you expect all the District Commissioners to come from the north, do you think they can develop Nsanje, Phalombe, Dedza, Ntchisi properly yet they don’t even understand, listen or like the culture or language of the district?
Equal distribution of the national resources is paramount for the development of any country. The schools should just have proper systems that only the bright students per each district’s quota are selected to the universities not the dull brains.
I will be there to participate on this discussion!
If you start saying that this quota was meant to suppress the northeners when it is being applied in all the districts of Malawi, then this conference is absolutely useless.If you think only Northerners are more intelligent than other regions then you are out of your mind.My Foot with this so called anti-quota conference.
Ethnic cleansing eti, shaaa. Koma guys nkhaniyi tikaitengera chibwana muzabuka nkhondo muno. True its unfair to northerners because bright brains are being denied tertiary education due to the quota system but flip the other side where you will have 90% of say MUST students being northerners zizatha bwino?
Can somebody do this forum a favour to provide us with a district standings table if this years 4,000 plus public university selection were to use your so called merit system and let’s discuss how fair it will be if we swap regions
What if we swap now Che Wanimiliyoni, how would you feel if left but with 14points and the other one admitted with 21points, be honest?
I will feel the same way a brilliant Chitipian young man with 14 points will do if he is not selected while his sister with 21 points makes it! Its called sharing the cake no matter how small or rotten it is.
Che Wanimiliyoni, ukukamba zankhondo, okay uzindikire kuti pankhondo nobody wins! Usadalire kuchulukana kwanu, kumbukira YomKippur War ndi 6day war yomwe Israel inamenya ndi almost all Arab countries and tell those who do not know what happened! Tell them who won and who got embarassed! So, tiyeni tikambe zomanga mtundu wa Malawi….koma ngati mungayifune, titha kukonzeka kuti tikonze dzikoli lisadzativutenso….chifukwa mukungotilemera ndi katangale wanu tikumakanika kutukuka pomwe chuma chambiri mukungoba natulutsanaso mumakhotimu …..kuba kopanda nako manayazi mpaka wachikulire amene, I mean Ankolo anu aja, pano ndi aBwana mwazibwenza kumene koma malemu aja ndalama zili chikhalire kunjaku tikukanika kuzibweretsa kuno dziko nkumasauka……