US embassy cable - 04LILONGWE1147

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 001147 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
 
AID/W FOR AFR/SD/ED AND EGAT/ED, DR. SARAH E. MOTEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPL, MI, Education 
SUBJECT: MALAWI EDUCATION SECTOR STATISTICS 
 
 
1. Summary 
For the first time in many years the 
Government of Malawi (GOM), with support from USAID, 
has produced extensive data on the education sector. 
The data confirms that pupil-to-teacher ratios are very 
high, pupils-per-classroom ratios also are far above 
recommended norms, and that almost three-quarters of 
all students are beyond the normal age for their class. 
Encouraging findings include that most students have 
text books, and that through USAID and other efforts 
relatively few teachers remain who require basic 
teacher training.  The report will serve as an 
extremely useful tool for the GOM and donors in policy 
and planning efforts. 
 
2. Background 
The Ministry of Education has over the past decade 
struggled to provide timely, accurate and comprehensive 
data on its schooling system and processes. This has 
meant that decisions were made without any reference to 
meaningful data.  For the first time in many years the 
Education Management and Information System (EMIS) 
section of the Ministry of Education (MOE), with the 
support of USAID, has produced annualized data.  This 
is the most accurate report of its kind to date, and 
reflects an extremely high level of return, 
approximately 99% of all the questionnaires 
distributed. This unprecedented success was the result 
of the hard work of teachers and data collectors who 
worked tirelessly for almost eight months. 
 
3. Findings 
The 2004 EMIS Report confirms that at the national 
level the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) is very high 
(1:72), compared with a policy of recommended levels no 
higher than 1:60; Rural schools are poorly resourced, 
and have fewer teachers than in the urban areas; and 
urban schools are overcrowded, but also with a surplus 
of teachers. 
 
4. In detail 
a) Out of the 3,166,786 primary pupils enrolled in 
school this year, 91.5 percent are enrolled in the 
rural schools. The national PTR in the rural schools 
stands at 1:77 against 1:44 in the urban schools. 
However, although the urban PTR is low, the Pupil 
Classroom Ratio (PCR) for the urban schools is at 
1:138 against a PCR of 1:105 in rural schools. 
Another disturbing feature is that 62 percent of 
rural teachers are male, raising the issue of the 
lack of role models for the rural girl child. 
 
b) Out of the total pupils enrolled, only 866,184 (27%) 
are of the rightful age to be in the primary system 
(6-13). 
 
c) Of those enrolled in Standard one, only 55.07 
percent are promoted to the next standard. In 
standard 8, which is the graduating class of the 
primary cycle, only 25.82 percent earn a completion 
certificate. The percentage of pupils repeating at 
the national level is at 19 percent. Repetition is 
very high at standard 1 and 3, 24.96 and 21.54 
percent respectively. The effect of repetition on 
the system is that pupils do not finish in time for 
their age, and over-age pupils remain in the system 
and further burden a system suffering for lack of 
resources. 
 
d) Quality input such as teaching and learning 
materials are adequately provided for. The Pupil/ 
Textbook ratio is at 1:1 in almost all the subjects 
at standard 1 and 1:2 in the other classes. This 
means that every child has a textbook. Another 
positive finding is that only 21.7 percent of 
teachers now remain to be trained and certified. 
 
5. Dissemination of findings 
A major challenge to be addressed is the dissemination 
of this report to a wide audience, and ensuring that 
all stakeholders understand what is happening in the 
education sector. Each school in the country should 
receive its own profile; each District Education Office 
(DEO), a full report; and presentation of summaries 
should be provided in the form of brochures to a 
variety of audiences. 
 
6. Comment 
With the release of the 2004 EMIS Report, the 
Government of Malawi (GOM) and donors have a tool with 
which they can develop a variety of strategies to 
address the skewed education delivery system. The GOM 
could consider for example moving more teachers into 
the rural schools to reduce the PTR, though there would 
be immediate needs such as housing and other monetary 
incentives to keep them there. The GOM could also 
consider constructing more schools in urban areas to 
tackle the current problem of over-crowding and 
redeployment of the surplus flock of teachers. A more 
difficult decision will need to be made with respect to 
over-age pupils.  The impact of much older students in 
lower grades is a serious one in Malawi. One approach 
under review would be to create alternative educational 
programs, including vocational training. 
 
GILMOUR