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Misanet.com / The Chronicle, 19 March - People in Malawi have, for the past few years been complaining about the dwindling standard of education. The issue of untrained and unqualified teachers has been a problem while the short supply of learning materials and unavailability of infrastructure are issues awaiting redress. Attainment of a basic education in Malawi, a country with the highest illiteracy rate in the Southern African region remains a pipe-dream. Realising the gaps that exist in the education system in the country, an alliance for basic education between the Government and non governmental organisations was formed in 1999. The aim was to draw all stakeholders in the education system together and pool their together resources to improve the quality of education in the country. The alliance executive secretary, Mr. Banda said despite the introduction of free primary education it was discovered that very little had been done to improve the quality of basic education in the country hence the formation of the alliance. He said stakeholders in the system including Christian organisations and NGOs have been working in isolation while they all had a common goal to achieve. According to chairperson Ali, the alliance is engaged in monitoring and evaluating the problems that are faced in the schools in the country When these gaps are identified, the alliance together with the government try to find possible remedies to the problems. The alliance through its training sub-committee is mandated to train the teachers from various schools to improve their professionalism and skills. The Malawi Institute of Education was identified as a centre for training school advisors who are charged with the task of monitoring and advising teachers in schools to ensure that their performance is up to par. Government employed untrained teachers in 1994 to meet the escalating numbers of enrolment in primary schools which came as a result of the free primary education programme to give all Malawians a chance at obtaining a basic education. Poverty should never be reason to deny a nation of education. The NGO/Government alliance through advocacy, training, fund-raising and policy change intends to implement its activities to see that quality and distribution of basic education are improved. However, for the alliance to have an impact it requires funds. According to Banda the activities of the alliance are being hampered by the problem of funding and lack of resources. "Until the alliance finds enough funds its activities will have little impact and there is a need for donors to come forward to assist the alliance in its national endeavours," said Banda. Currently, the alliance operates on funding from Action Aid. By Don Kulapani, The Chronicle
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