Education campaigners fury with poor selection rate of University of Malawi
The Joyce Banda’s administration has come under attack from education campaigners for lack of seriousness on improving tertiary education in the country.
This follows poor selection of students who are to enroll for tertiary education in the five constituent colleges of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) this year.
The 2011/2012 UNIMA entrance examinations results show that only 908 students were selected out of 6000 who passed representing a selection rate of 11percent. About 8,200 students sat for the examinations.
In a statement, UNIMA says the first ten students were selected based on quota system, an equitable system of selecting students to the higher learning institutions, while the rest were selected based on merit.
Executive Director of the Civil Society Education Coalition Benedicto Kondowe has described the results as a mockery to government policy of improving access to tertiary education.
He describes the11 % selection rate as a clear evidence of nose-diving on the part of education system in the Malawi.
“One cannot expect the 908 student being selected out of 7000 eligible learners and results shows lack of proper direction and seriousness on the part of government,” he says.
Kondowe said the problem with current government is that it is banking on former administration’s plans to open five new state universities instead of making use of the already available resources.
“The government can redevelop the already existing colleges for instance Chancellor College which has an extra and vast area that can be expanded,” Kondowe says.
University of Malawi colleges have so far hiked fees for all government sponsored students to MK55, 000 from MK25, 000.
