Aggrey Memorial School, which was founded in 1976, is an independent private school, established with permission of the Ministry of Education. It is a family-run business that has as its central aim to provide quality education opportunities to the poorest of the poor. As a result, the majority of its students are from rural areas in Malawi. The School also enrols students from neighbouring countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Tanzania. The Aggrey Memorial School was founded to embody the philosophy of Dr J.K. Aggrey, who believed and taught that "only the best is good enough for Africa".

Mr Phiri cited the devaluation of the Malawian Kwacha in the late seventies as one of the reasons he decided to open this School. The lower value of the Kwacha meant that it became very expensive - and in most cases unaffordable – for ordinary Malawians to study through distance education institutions based in the United Kingdom and South Africa as they used to do. In his experience, most of the students enrolling at his School are either very low paid or unemployed. For that reason, fees charged by the School are very affordable, and finding ways in which to minimise costs is therefore central to the way in which the enterprise is managed. The School operates from a very humble office building in Blantyre.

Despite of the constraints imposed by the lack of funding and the poor quality printing work, the quality of the tuition offered by the Aggrey Memorial School is highly regarded in Malawi. A number of people interviewed in Malawi in relation to the Global Distance Education Network remarked on the high standard of the Aggrey Memorial School’s service and commended Mr Phiri for the work he does. The Malawi government has included the Aggrey Memorial School on its list of approved correspondence colleges for the purposes of granting education advances to civil servants.

The School offers general academic and vocational courses, Malawian school certificate programmes, and a General Certificate in Education from England. The Aggrey Memorial School prospectus for 1999 distinguishes between three types of programmes offered by the institution:

1. Group 1: Single subject courses, most of which lead to examinations of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
2. Group 2: Courses that lead to examinations of professional bodies in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
3. Group 3: General courses, such as the following:

• Primary School Leaving Certificate (PSLC);
• Junior Certificate (JC);
• Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) (required for entry into university);
• General Certificate of Education (GCE).

Enrolments

Although exact figures are not available, it is estimated that in 1999 approximately 3000 students are enrolled at this school. Courses are delivered using printed correspondence texts. As it is a private-rum enterprise, the School is unable to attract public or donor funding and finds it difficult to raise capital, and does not qualify for a loan. Printing equipment is very outdated and the School suffers severely under financial constraints.

Materials are mostly in the form of course notes. The School makes use of part-time tutors to develop these notes. Many of these part-time tutors are lecturers at the University of Malawi or one of the Malawian Colleges. Some materials are developed by experienced secondary school teachers.

Materials comprise of course notes, course updates (which are called Surpass Revision Notes), and copies of previous examination papers with model answers. The course notes (or lectures, as these are referred to by AMS) are self-contained and students therefore do not have to purchase or read prescribed textbooks. The College obtains copies of the prescribed literature and summarize and synthesize these for students, adding additional notes and comments. In particular, materials developers ensure that additional material from African sources are incorporated into the lectures.

Staff

Aggrey Memorial School has one full-time academic staff member. The School also employs a number of persons to provide secretarial support.

Learners can enrol at any time during the year. The School provides course notes only, and students who want to sit examinations for the various programmes have to register for those examinations with the relevant authorities themselves. Fees may either be paid cash over a period of three months, or students may opt for the instalment option and pay their fees over a one-year period.

Students registered with the College who fails their examinations on the first attempt are offered assistance by the College free of charge for two more attempts. This is provided that there are no changes in the syllabus of the examining body.