Malawi govt on firing line over school fees

Malawi government is back on the firing line now it is over school fees after evidence emerged that the DPP led administration is introducing school fees in primary public schools.

Director of Basic Education has been forced to make yet another refutation claiming there has not been any discussion in government over the matter.

The director Joseph Chimombo claimed the stories are false but sources say the introduction of the fees are part of reforms that the Peter Mutharika administration has embarked on.

“The stories are false” said Chimombo.

Learners in public primary schools pay an average of K2000 a year and most of them learn in crowded classes of 300 learners per class.

Education analyst Benedicto Kondowe said recently that education standards in Malawi are probably the lowest in Africa and President Mutharika assured the nation the government was doing all it can to improve the standards.

The government recently more than doubled school fees in secondary schools and introduced fees in teacher training colleges, a move education experts say it is retrogressive because of the state of the economy.