The Education System in Malawi - World Bank

1 THE World BANKWORLD BANK WORKING PAPER NO. 182 The Education Systemin Malawi53302 World BANK WORKING PAPER NO. 182 The Education System in Malawi Copyright 2010 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street, Washington, 20433, All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First Printing: January 2010 Printed on recycled paper 1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 World Bank Working Papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank s work to the development community with the least possible delay. The manuscript of this paper therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formally edited texts. Some sources cited in this paper may be informal documents that are not readily available. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent.

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3 P. cm. ISBN 978 0 8213 8198 4 1. Education Malawi . I. World Bank. 2010 dc22 2009045470 iii Contents Foreword from the Minister of Education , Government of Malawi .. xviii Foreword from the World Bank .. xx Acknowledgments .. xxiv Acronyms and Abbreviations .. xxvi Executive Summary .. xxviii Policy Recommendations Matrix by Sub Sector .. lii Technical, Entrepreneurial, and Vocational Education and Training (TEVET) .. lviii Higher Education .. lxiii 1. Demographics, Social Development, and Macroeconomic Conditions .. 1 Summary of the Chapter .. 1 Demographics .. 2 Social Development .. 4 Macroeconomic Conditions .. 5 2. Enrollment Patterns .. 12 Summary of the Chapter .. 12 The Education System in Malawi .. 13 Coverage in Primary and Secondary Education : Schooling and Survival Profiles .. 18 Understanding Dropouts at the Primary Level .. 26 3. Education Expenditure and Financing.

4 32 Summary of the Chapter .. 32 Total Public Recurrent Expenditure for Education .. 34 Public Recurrent Expenditure by Level of Schooling .. 38 Public Recurrent Unit Costs by Level of Schooling .. 42 Household Financing .. 46 Donor Financing for the Education Sector (2005 2008) .. 51 Comparisons of School Construction Costs .. 52 4. Internal Efficiency, Learning Outcomes, and Management Issues .. 54 Summary of the Chapter .. 54 Internal Efficiency of the Education System .. 57 Quality and Learning Outcomes .. 64 Administration Management .. 76 Pedagogical Management: Transforming Inputs into Learning Outcomes .. 96 iv Contents 5. Equity and Disparities .. 101 Summary of the Chapter .. 101 Disparities among Social Groups .. 102 Equity in Distribution of Public Resources for Education .. 114 6. Technical, Entrepreneurial, and Vocational Education and Training.

5 118 Summary of the Chapter .. 118 Introduction .. 119 Enrollment .. 121 Equity .. 124 Costs and Financing .. 127 Internal Efficiency and Quality .. 135 Governance Issues and Institutional Set up .. 141 7. Higher Education .. 147 Summary of the Chapter .. 147 The Genesis and Growth of Higher Education in Malawi .. 148 Higher Education Enrollments and Fields of Study .. 149 Financing .. 158 Internal Efficiency .. 169 Equity in Higher Education .. 175 Governance and Management .. 177 8. External Efficiency .. 182 Summary of the Chapter .. 182 Education and Human Development in 183 Relevance of Education for the Labor Market .. 187 Appendixes .. 206 Appendix : Demographic and Social Development Indicators .. 207 Appendix : Context Index, Methodology of Calculation .. 211 Appendix : Education System Structure .. 212 Appendix : Enrollment Trends .. 213 Appendix : Population Estimates for the Malawi CSR.

6 215 Appendix : Cross Sectional Schooling Profiles According to EMIS and UN Population Data .. 224 Appendix : How to Read Educational Pyramids? .. 226 Appendix : Factors Explaining Why Some Children Never Go to Primary Education .. 228 Appendix : Model Result for Retention Explanation, Based on EMIS Data .. 231 Appendix : Quantitative Efficiency of Education Expenditure .. 232 Appendix : Expenditure by Type and Source of Funding .. 235 Contents v Appendix : Ministries with Some Education Activities and Education Institutions Outside of the Ministry of Education .. 237 Appendix : Recurrent and Capital Allocations to ECD and Adult Literacy .. 238 Appendix : Adjustment Methodology for Comparing Distribution of Recurrent Expenditure by Level of Education .. 239 Appendix : Comparative Data on Expenditure Breakdown in Higher Education .

7 240 Appendix : Teachers Salaries in Primary and Secondary Education by Category of Teachers .. 241 Appendix : Internal Efficiency and Resources Management .. 242 Appendix : SACMEQ Levels Definitions .. 247 Appendix : Examination Pass Rates Analysis .. 248 Appendix : Consistency in Resource Allocations .. 251 Appendix : Teacher Training .. 253 Appendix : Internal Efficiency Tables by Gender .. 256 Appendix : Disparities .. 257 Appendix : TEVET Recurrent Unit Cost and Financial Management Issues .. 264 Appendix : Other TEVET Indicators .. 265 Appendix 7: Higher Education .. 272 Appendix : Duration of Job Search .. 283 Appendix : Results of the Impact of Education on Social Behavior Calculations .. 284 Appendix : Rates of Return of Education Investments: Calculation Method .. 288 Appendix : Employment and Income Data .. 293 Appendix 9: Tracer Study of TEVET and Higher Education Completers.

8 295 Part I: General Background .. 297 1. Introduction .. 297 2. Objectives of the Study .. 298 3. Methodology .. 299 Part II: Higher Education Tracer Study .. 301 Introduction: The Context of the University System in Malawi .. 301 1. Methodology .. 302 2. Results of Graduate Study .. 304 3. Results of Dropout 313 4. Summary and Conclusions .. 315 5. Conclusions and Recommendations .. 316 Part III: TEVET Tracer Study .. 318 Introduction: The Context of the TEVET System in Malawi .. 318 1. Methodology .. 319 vi Contents 2. Results of TEVET Study .. 320 4. Summary and Conclusions .. 331 Part IV: Final Remarks .. 334 References .. 335 Tables Table 1: STR in Public Schools by Level of Education (2007) .. xl Table 2: Higher Education Teachers Average Salary, as Units of GDP Per Capita for Countries with GDP per Capita Lower than US$500 (2007 or last year available).

9 Xlvii Table 3: Annual Average Income and Expected Annual Income According to Level of Education .. xlix Table : Evolution in Real GDP Growth, Inflation, and Exchange Rate (MK/US$) .. 6 Table : Evolution in Total Government Revenue and Expenditure and Deficit .. 7 Table : GDP Per Capita and Domestic Resources as a Percentage of GDP for SADC Countries (ca. 2006).. 8 Table : Annual External Aid for Education as Percentage of GDP (2004 2006 Average) .. 9 Table : Enrollment Trends per Education Level (1998 2007) .. 15 Table : Schooling Coverage by Level of Education (2000 2007) .. 17 Table : International Comparison on GER (SADC countries) .. 18 Table : Percent of Repeaters in Primary Education According to Different Data Sources (in %) .. 19 Table : Construction of Survival Profile .. 23 Table : Share of Schools and Pupils According to the Number of Standards Supplied.

10 26 Table : Percentage of Pupils Who Cannot Continue on to the Next Standard in the Same School, 2006 07 (in %) .. 27 Table : Main Reasons for Dropping Out of School Declared by School Heads (in %) .. 29 Table : Main Reasons for Dropping Out of School, Declared by Pupils (in %) .. 29 Table Education Public Recurrent Expenditure .. 35 Table : Percentages for Education in Public Recurrent Expenditure, SADC countries .. 35 Table : Breakdown of Total Public Recurrent Expenditure by Nature of Spending and by Level of Education (in %) .. 37 Table : Breakdown of Public Recurrent Expenditure (revised 07/08 budget) by level of Schooling .. 39 Table : Distribution of Recurrent Expenditure by Level of Schooling, SADC Countries, (2008 or last year available) .. 40 Table : Public Recurrent Unit Costs by Level of 43 Table : Primary and Secondary Public Recurrent Unit Costs, SADC Countries (2007 or last year available).