Interview with Mr Vales
Machila – Publications Manager - 15 July 1999
Montford Press and Popular Publications
There exists a critical shortage of resources for schooling in Malawi. The Malawi College
of Distance Education and Malawi Institute of Education are the only two institutions that
produce locally developed resources.
A project funded by the World Bank and
Danida in partnership with the Ministry of Education that focuses on the development of
resources for secondary schooling has recently been embarked upon. The project aims to:
alleviate the shortage of materials;
produce local resources; and
stimulate the local publishing industry.
The Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) is
a government agency responsible for curriculum development for schooling in Malawi. Once a
curriculum has been finalized, it is published by the MIE and tenders are invited for the
development of textbooks. Manuscripts submitted are evaluated by the MIE. According to the
project provisions, at least three resources (textbooks) per subject have to be accepted
for print.
Funds for purchasing textbooks are
decentralised to the level of the school. A number of book fairs is held all over the
country, where teachers then select from the three available resources the one that they
would like to purchase for their school.
Blackwell, the United Kingdom-based
publishing agency, is responsible for distribution of 90% of the materials and local
agencies distribute the remaining 10% of the materials. Part of the agreement is that,
after a period of two years, local Malawian companies may also bid for distribution
rights. It is envisaged that the two-year period will present opportunities to gain
expertise for local publishers and distributors.
Montford Press has recently joined this
project and has submitted tenders for the development of materials. Due to the fact that
the MCDE does not have its own printing facilities any more (these had been moved to the
MIE) it is foreseen that closer cooperation between the MCDE and Montford Press may
develop in future.
In the meantime, Montford Press employs
academics at the University of Malawi and senior secondary school teachers on a contract
basis to develop these resources. For doing this, these part-time materials developers
receive an initial up-front payment and are entitled to royalties once the book has been
accepted for printing.
Malawi has about three reputable printing
houses and eleven book publishers. |
