Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) consultative meetings in Mwanza

By Brian Wasili

Participants at a consultative meeting with Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) in Mwanza have observed that putting much emphasis on child rights without emphasis on responsibilities has affected quality of education in the country.

The participants raised the issue when MIE and Ministry of Education held a consultative meeting at Mwanza Secondary School recently to solicit views from stakeholders for review of education curriculum for pre-primary, primary, secondary and primary teacher education in the country.

One of the participants, Pastor Joe Kaumphawi of the Seventh Day Adventist in the district said: “Learners mostly do all what they want in the name of rights and teachers fail to discipline them for fear of being sued either by their parents or some authorities. This cannot take us anywhere.”

The participants further expressed worry over uncalled for behaviour in schools saying child rights without responsibilities and irrelevant education materials compromise education standards in the country.

Among other recommendations made at the meeting were that government should promote technical education at all levels to re-introduce Civics into the primary school curriculum saying Civics helped, among other things, to groom learners into responsible citizens unlike teaching them imported stuff which cannot help them.

According to the Ministry of Education, the curricula reviews are supposed to be conducted after a cycle such as eight years for primary, four years for secondary and two years for primary teacher education.

In an interview, Deputy Director for Inclusive Education in the Ministry of Education, Lucy Magagula said the consultative meetings are crucial in the curricula review process as they will help align the curricula with the Malawi 2063 as well as regional and global policy frameworks.

“Curricula reviews may also be carried out as and when required in response to the emerging needs and trends,” said Magagula.

She commended active participation of the stakeholders at the meeting and also pledged to take their views into consideration in the consolidation of the data collected from other centers across the country.

Parents and guardians, teachers, traditional and religious leaders and business community representatives in the district attended the meeting.

Similar meetings are expected to be conducted in 18 designated centres across the country.