This report
is based on an interview with Ms Bethel Masauli, Mr Chriss Laymaman, and Mr Bishop
Mughogho on 14 July 1999, as well as on a documentary analysis of literature made
available by the College for this purpose. A full list of references is provided at the
end of the report.
History
The Malawi Correspondence College was established as a department
of the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1965. In 1973, this college merged with the
Schools Broadcasting Unit to form the Malawi Correspondence College and Broadcasting Unit.
In 1987, the College changed its name to the Malawi College of Distance Education (MCDE).
The College is part of the Ministry of Education. It was founded by government to achieve
the following four objectives:
- To provide formal education to school-going children who fail to secure places in the
conventional system due to limited space;
- To provide a second chance to adults who missed formal education during their youth;
- To upgrade teachers from T4 to T3 then to T2; and
- To prevent a drain of much needed foreign exchange to correspondence colleges in
neighbouring and distant countries
Organizational Structure
MCDE is a department of the Ministry of Education, Sports and
Culture. It is headed by a principal who reports to the Secretary of Education through a
desk officer and sometimes directly. The College comprises of the following six sections
or divisions:
- Tutorial / editorial;
- Schools broadcasting unit;
- Student services;
- Computer services
- Accounts; and
- Registry.
It has two regional offices, one in Mzuzu that services the North and
one in Lilongwe that services the Centre. The Head Office in Blantyre also doubles as a
regional office for the South.
Mission statement
The mission statement of the MCDE is as follows:
Malawi College of Distance Education exists to provide alternative
formal primary and secondary education of the same standard as offered by conventional
schools to students who fail to secure places in the conventional system.
Student types
Initially, MCDE was a correspondence college. As of the
early 1970s, new forms of distance education provision with an element of face-to-face
teaching integrated into the delivery model emerged. Until recently, the MCDE enrolled
three types of students:
- DEC students (Distance Education Centre Students);
- Home-study students; and
- Night Secondary School students.
DECs Students
The term Distance Education Centres (DECs) refers to schools
that were established by communities to provide a face-to-face component to the distance
education programmes offered by the MCDE. At these institutions, students are supervised,
receive counselling, and listen to radio broadcasts or recordings on audiocassette in
groups.
Communities raised their own funds to run these programmes. Often,
these centres did not have their own premises and had to share premises with primary
schools. DECs used to receive their instructional materials from the MCDE. As the
MCDEs budget was inadequate, the materials received by the DECs were often not
enough and had to be shared amongst students. DECs were staffed by primary school teachers
(called teacher-supervisors) who had not been oriented in the principles and practices of
distance education.
Home-study students
Students who are unable to secure places at conventional schools,
Night Secondary Schools, or Distance Education Centres (DECs), or who are unable to attend
these schools, study from home. They receive learning materials, but no face-to-face
tuition.
Night Secondary School Students
Persons who work during daytime often working class people
who have not completed their secondary schooling may enrol at Night Secondary
Schools where they receive tuition for two hours per day. These schools often make use of
secondary school premises and secondary school teachers teach learners.
Enrolment statistics
In 1998, enrolments at the MCDE according student type was as
follows:
Student type |
Enrolments |
DECs (Distance Education Centre) students |
100 000 |
Home-study students |
5 000 |
Night Secondary School students |
45 000 |
|
150 000 |
Of the above figures, only 500 learners in total were enrolled for the
Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE).
Developments after 1994
Free primary education
In 1995, the new government adopted a policy of free primary
education. The principle of free primary education is also enshrined in the Constitution
as a human right. As a result of this policy decision, enrolments in primary schools
increased by more than 70% and went up to approximately 3.2 million. To cope with the
increase in numbers on primary school level, government recruited 22 000 untrained
teachers and sent them on a two-week training course before placing them in schools.
The increase in primary school enrolments had three direct results.
First, the gap between the number of learners that complete primary school and the number
of places available in secondary school widened significantly. Second, perhaps as a
response the first issue, the number of Distance Education Centres (DECs) increased from
350 in 1993 to approximately 520 in 1998. Third, teachers who had only completed their
primary school training were placed in the DECs.
Rapid growth and expansion of DECs
The period after 1994 saw a very rapid growth in the number of
Distance Education Centres. Many of these centres were simply established by communities,
without the proper procedures being followed. Thus, some of these DECs were not even
registered.
Interviewees put forward a number of reasons to explain this rapid
growth of Distance Education Centres.
The expansion of DECs can in the first place be attributed to pressure
from the communities in which they were established. Learners attending these centres were
generally between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, and had difficulty in studying
independently. Furthermore, communities wanted their children to be able to complete their
Junior Certificate (JC) and Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) studies in two
years each, as is the case in the conventional secondary schools, rather than the five
years each advised by the MCDE.
Because of increase in number of DECs and the number of secondary
school pupils, as well as cuts in the MCDEs funding, the College was unable to
supply learning materials (called sets) to each student and the materials therefore had to
be shared. The lack of materials coupled with severe overcrowding (up to 100 pupils in a
classroom) meant that teachers often had to take the materials and start teaching.
Unfortunately these teachers were not trained in the methodologies and philosophy of
distance learning. Moreover, these teachers were not qualified to teach at secondary
school level. In order to cope with demands from learners and the pressure placed on them
by communities who often described these teacher-supervisors as lazy these
teachers developed a very authoritarian model of teaching.
In practice, these developments meant that DECs had unofficially become
conventional secondary schools, but were lacking basic resources and qualified staff.
Private education provision
The decision to provide free primary education also had an impact
on private provision of school education. Whereas the practice of private education had
been well established in Malawi prior to 1994 through mission schools, the period after
1994 saw a rapid mushrooming of the number and types of private providers offering
schooling. Interviewees argued that the issue of quality of private providers has become a
major issue. Whereas some of the private providers are well resourced and have good
teachers and materials, others are of the fly-by-night type, and teach in dilapidated
facilities with almost no resources and unqualified teachers. An emerging practice that is
of concern to the MCDE is that some of these poor quality providers have resorted to
photocopying MCDE materials to use in their schools. The overflow of primary school
leavers, that is those learners who were unable to secure places in conventional secondary
school, generally tended to enrol at the MCDE. After 1994 and the mushrooming of private
secondary schools, individual parents sometimes seem to demonstrate a preference for
sending their children to private schools because of a perception that the quality of
face-to-face tuition is better than a distance education model.
MCDE pass rates
The sharp increase in the number of DEC students coupled with
dwindling funding made it impossible for the MCDE to provide enough materials to learners.
That, together with other issues such as poor discipline in DECs, had a disastrous impact
on the pass rate of MCDE students in the Malawi School Certificate of Education
examinations. The pass rate for MCDE students for the MSCE examination fell from 11,2% in
1996 to 9,3% in 1997 to reach an all-time low of 4,9% in 1998.
The MCDE pass rate has to be seen against the background of the fall in
pass rate for MSCE examinations in Malawi in general. In 1998, the overall pass rate for
the MSCE examination was only 16%, with a mere 31,3% of learners from government and grant
aided schools successfully completing the MSCE. The calculation of the number of students
that have passed the examinations only includes students that have completed six subjects.
As MCDE students are encouraged to slowstream their studies by completing the two-year
programme over four or five years, the MCDEs pass rate for MSCE examinations does
not accurately reflect their students success rate.
It should be noted that, despite increased enrolments, MCDE students
continued to do well in the Junior Certificate examination, achieving a pass rate of 88%
in 1996 and 83,6% in 1997. On the whole, MCDE students fare better in Junior Certificate
examinations than their counterparts in conventional schools.
|
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
|
Entered |
Passed |
% |
Entered |
Passed |
% |
Entered |
Passed |
% |
MSCE |
11 503 |
1284 |
11,2% |
14 500 |
1 363 |
9.3% |
17 214 |
847 |
4.9% |
JC |
33 560 |
29 543 |
88% |
40 526 |
33 898 |
83.6% |
|
|
|
Pilot project to move to resource-based learning in DECs
The response of the MCDE to the growing concerns about the dismal
pass rate and problems facing Distance Education Centres was to investigate the
possibility of moving towards resource-based learning methodologies in DECs. In 1996 and
1997 the Danish government sent an advisor to assist with a pilot project that included
twenty-five Distance Education Centres (DECs). The idea was to establish libraries and to
ensure that these centres were adequately resourced. The pilot project could then be used
as a model for introducing these methodologies at all the DECs to improve conditions and
standards. Unfortunately, before the project which seemed to be functioning very
effectively was concluded, the government announced a decision to convert DECs into
Community Day Secondary Schools, thereby effectively taking it away from the
responsibility of the MCDE.
Conversion of DECs into Community Day Secondary Schools
In December 1998, the Malawi College of Distance Education had
under its care almost 520 Distance Education Centres. In ?, the Malawi government
announced that all DECs are to be converted into Community Day Secondary Schools, which
meant that DECs would cease to exist.
Implications of various policy decisions for the MCDE
The MCDE welcomed this move by government, as they had for a long
time wanted the Ministry of Education to take responsibility for the DECs, which they
regarded to be underprivileged and under-resourced. It had also become clear that fees
charged at the DECs, coupled with the low success rate, meant that studying through DECs
had become very expensive. Interviewees felt that the governments contribution in
terms of teaching staff were not sufficient any more. The conversion of the DECs also
meant that most communities would now have a fully-fledged secondary school, which the
MCDE regarded as a positive development.
The conversion of DECs into Community Day Secondary Schools entailed
that the government, in particular the Ministry of Education, would be contributing more
than just the salaries of the teacher-supervisors. The Ministry would accept
responsibility for purchasing and disseminating relevant textbooks and would also ensure
that properly trained teaching staff be seconded to these schools.
Despite the fact that the MCDE thus generally welcomed the move by
government to convert DECs, this did, however, have two very important implications for
the MCDE.
In the first place, it led to a drastic reduction in MCDEs
student numbers. If one look at the 1997 and 1998 Primaru School leaving Certificate of
Education figures this becomes clear. Over the last two years only about 10% of the
approximately 110 000 primary school leavers were able to secure places in the
conventional secondary schools. Private schooling could accommodate another 10 000
learners. That meant that the bulk of primary school leavers (approximately 90 000) would
enrol with MCDE. Of these students, 50 000 would enrol with the DECs, 40 000 would be
home-study students, and the remaining 10 000 students would be accommodated by night
secondary schools. The conversion of DECs meant that the MCDE would loose the DEC
students.
In the second place, it led to a major shift in the type of students
enrolled at MCDE. A government circular indicated that Community Day Secondary Schools
could take a maximum of 50 learners per class. That means that Community Day Secondary
Schools can accommodate 26000 learners (There were 520 DECs in 1998). The remainder of the
50 000 students who would have enrolled at the DECs, that is 24 000, therefore becomes
home-study students. Whereas the MCDE thus looses all its DEC students, its number of home
study students increases with 24 000. Because of severe funding constraints, the MCDE is
unable to provide learning materials for each of the learners. As a strategy for dealing
with this, MCDE materials are now being sold.
Night Secondary Schools continue to exist. In February 1999 there were
forty-three such schools registered. There is, however, a lack of policy on Night
Secondary Schools and the future of these schools remain unclear.
New curriculum
In February (1995/1996) a process got underway to develop a new
curriculum for secondary schooling in Malawi, as it was felt that the existing curriculum
was outdated. In 1996 the new curriculum for the Junior Certificate was finalised. In
January 1999 the draft syllabus for the curriculum was published and it is believed that
it will be implemented by 2000. Plans are also in the pipeline for revising the Malawi
School Certificate of Education. Government, with financial and other assistance from
funding agencies, has undertaken to commission the development of materials for the new
curriculum and to supply textbooks to schools in Malawi.
MCDEs response to a changing environment
The environment in which the MCDE operates has changed
significantly over the last few years. The College is understaffed and under-funded. One
of the possibilities the College is exploring is to move more into the publishing of
educational materials. That entails bidding with other agencies for tenders to develop
materials for the new curriculum.
Staff indicated that they would also like to diversify in terms of the
programmes that they offer. Two of the options mentioned are to offer general education
such as Accounting programmes and to yet again start offering programmes for teacher
training.
The College would like to see itself move to become an open learning
agency that that produces high-quality resource-based learning materials.
Current provision
The College has ceased to offer teacher orientation and upgrading
programmes, and is increasingly specialising in the secondary education provision, as it
is felt that the high numbers on these programmes justify distance education strategies.
The College currently offers the following courses:
- Junior Certificate (JC)
- Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE)
Delivery Strategies
Courses are delivered through printed materials referred to
as sets - which are self-instructional and cover the whole syllabus for each subject.
Radio broadcasts used to supplement and support the print materials. As a result of
Malawis structural adjustment programme, there is a strong drive for government
institutions and parastatals to cut costs and to move towards financial sustainability.
This is equally true for the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). The rates charged by
the MBC for broadcasting programmes developed by the MCDE in support of their courses
became too high and government discontinued its funding for the radio broadcasts. The MCDE
provides a service whereby they put the radio programmes on audiocassette for anyone that
sends them a blank audiocassette.
Materials Development
MCDE initially developed materials by making use of tutors. Because
of a high staff turnover, the College was forced to consider alternative strategies.
Currently some of the development work is contracted out to external materials developers.
Some materials are also developed through a workshop method.
In the beginning of 1999, MCDEs printing equipment was moved to
the Malawi Institute of Education. The idea is that MCDE should outsource their printing
to commercial printers. Financial constraints make this very difficult for the College,
and the printing of materials is currently a major problem.
Quality Assurance
Examinations are set and certified by the Malawi National
Examinations Board (MANEB). All students, whether they are in conventional schools or
study through distance education at MCDE, write the same examination. The College had seen
some students, usually around three students per year, qualifying for admission to the
University of Malawi.
Interviewees indicated that an indication of the quality of the
materials as well as their appropriateness in the Malawian context is evident from the
fact that MCDE materials are widely used in conventional schools.
Hindering and enabling factors
Interviewees identified a lack of systemic planning in the way in
which resources are allocated and strategic priorities are determined as the one element
most seriously impacting on the ability of the College to position itself. Other issues
are the shortage in staff and the fact the College remains seriously under-funded, which
in turn has a negative influence on the Colleges ability to conduct research, to
offer tutor-marking of assignments, and to offer orientation programmes to teachers.
References
- Kaduya, J. S. 1998. "Malawi College of Distance Education". Paper presented at
the COL / World Space Sub-regional Meeting on appropriate media and technology
applications in open and distance learning, 7-8 May, 1998.
|
- Mughogho, B. & Laymaman, C. 1998. "Country Report on Education in Malawi".
Paper presented at the International Workshop on Open Schooling held in Harare, Zimbabwe.
23-27 February 1998.
|
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. 1995. "The status of distance
education in Malawi".
|
- Malawi College of Distance Education. 1999. "Management of CDSS with lessons from
DECs". Unpublished MCDE proposal. February 1999.
|
|
- Chakwere, W. J. 1999. "Consultative Meeting on Diploma in Education through
Distance Education Project Highlight of issues of concern". Unpublished paper.
|
- Ministry of Education and Culture. 1992. Malawi College of Distance Education Prospectus
1992-3.
|
- Department of Ministry of Education. 1993. A Handbook for Distance Education Centres
and Night Schools. Malawi College of Distance Education
|
- Malawi College of Distance Education. 1999. "Conversion of DECs to Community day
Secondary Schools (CDSS)". Unpublished paper.
|
- Ministry of Education. 1998. "Malawi College of Distance Education Pilot Project
Orientation meeting". Minutes of meeting.
|
- Malawi College of Distance Education. 1998. Malawi College of Distance Education
Handbook. Draft.
|
- Laymaman, C.F. 1996. Instructional Materials Quality Management Manual Statement
of Project Proposal to develop the Manual. Malawi College of Distance Education.
|
- Malawi College of Distance Education. "Conversion of DECs into Community Day
Secondary Schools A Proposal". Unpublished document.
|
- Malawi College of Distance Education. 1998. Present position analysis and an
understanding of its future. Unpublished report.
|
- Malawi College of Distance Education. "MCDE Course Development and Production:
Proposed Methods for Course Development and Administration. Unpublished document.
|
- Malawi College of Distance Education. "Course Development Estimated Costs".
Unpublished document.
|
|