Over 2000 illegal private school in Malawi: Call for probe
Independent Schools Association of Malawi (ISMA) has urged Government to investigate the alleged illegal private schools which ISMA describe as enemies of quality national education standards.
ISMA President, Joseph Patel, said this in an exclusive interview with LINA. He alleged that currently over 2000 schools ranging from nursery to secondary in the country are operating illegally as they are not officially registered.
“Some schools are there not to assist Government to improve quality of education but stealing from people and simply to accumulate wealth for themselves,” said Patel.
Patel said that during a meeting they held on Monday with the Minister of Gender, they agreed that Government must take over the responsibility of looking after nursery schools which mostly are private.
Hel told LINA that his organization is working closely with Government to conduct a survey and determine approved and non approved private schools in the country and release a list of names of approved private schools ranging from nursery to secondary level.
“Operating a school without a license is a serious offense and the penalty is K500, 000 fine and closure of the school, in some cases even demolition of the school structure,” Patel disclosed.
He added that currently Malawi has only 251 private schools from primary to secondary level.
In 2010 Government in conjunction with ISMA mounted a serious crackdown on private and Government schools and closed about 500 schools which had poor conditions or operating without a licenses.
Education standards in Malawi have gone down since the introduction of free primary education in 1994 after the introduction of multiparty politics in the country.
The problem has been aggravated because of unqualified teachers, under payment of teachers, inadequate teaching staff, poor learning environment among other factors.–Lina
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The schools are not opening to assist government. They are opening to assist poor people looking for alternatives for the education of their children who are getting a raw deal in government public schools. So the issue is not about unregistered schools, it is about poor standards in public schools. The private schools association should find means of catering for the poor who cannot afford registered private schools but who are fed up or dissatisfied with standards in public schools. The unregistered private schools are filling this gap. Thanks for your concern about standards, but do not call for closure… Read more »
If there are people paying to send their children to these unlicensed schools, it means there is a demand for the service. So, no need to close them. Just regularise them and give them ample time to meet the standards, if at all Malawi has any standards. Visit a govt school in Lilongwe and pupils have no desks, no text books, no sports facilities and in some cases no classrooms. The pupil to teacher ratio is high and teachers are poorly paid and demoralised. So, what is the standards? I’d say first close all Government schools that don’t the standards!… Read more »
Indeed there is a need to go throu these schools hit them hard n cme up with only licenced ones close others for betterment of our standard schools
I like the flag in the pic. Looking forward to a day when Malawi will revert to that new one. The old one is primitive and mockery. How can a nation, in this modern age, have a half sun? Does it mean Malawians are still in the dark and daft? No, it does not reflect us. Please let us revert to the new flag. Don’t tell me it is costly because nobody said about the fucken cost when we reverted to the old one.
The flag with a white sun reminds me of Daniel Phiri.
mutsekenso government schools zinazi ndizonyansa kwambiri.
Do we have regulatory bodies on matters of education ? If any, where are they ?
Amalawi ambiri amatsakula masukulu chifukwa cha umphawi osati kuthandiza anthu.
Please,let us try to keep Malawian names if we have!!!!!! just image with all two foreign names !!!! Usually, first name middle name initial then last name. There was wisdom in the past. For safety too.
Thats a flag for South Malawi. Nyika republic will maintain the normal beautiful flag with the rising sun. Central will have a cock instead of the sun. Federation woyee!!!
No. We will not have a flag with a cock. It will have a full sun shinning and not half dark. 50 years down the line the sun is still not yet shinning in Malawi hahahahaha…what a pathetic country is this? Primitive people tremble when they hear about a change. They have change-phobia.
U want frustrate your competitors by using government?