Admissions policy of students into Malawi secondary schools

Abstract

In Malawi the future of a child in terms of academic achievement is known before a child completes a higher secondary education. This is determined by the type of secondary school a child has been selected to. The secondary schools in Malawi are classified into three types namely the grant aided, secondary schools, the district conventional secondary schools and the community day secondary schools. When a pupil has been selected to a grant aided secondary school the general public expectation is that such a student would achieve a high academic standard, similarly when a pupil has been selected to the community day secondary school the public expectation is that such a pupil would not achieve a high academic standard. On the other hand those who are selected to attend the district conventional secondary schools will have an academic achievement which is between the other two types of secondary schools. This research was carried out to find out the impact of the ADMISSIONS POLICY OF STUDENTS INTO MALAWI SECONDARY SCHOOLS by examining the factors which contribute to disparities in academic achievements from the three types of secondary schools. The study was carried out in Dowa District in the Central Region of Malawi. Specifically it was conducted in the Central East Education Division which is comprised of five education districts namely: Dowa, Ntchisi, Nkhotakota, Salima and Kasungu. The research was conducted using a number of methods namely: survey questionnaires, convenient sampling, interviews and snowballing. Through the research it was established that the grant aided secondary schools offer excellence of education where many students excel in academics and is seconded by the district conventional secondary schools, while the community day secondary schools offer poor education which attributes to poor academic achievement. The research has explained what has been responsible for the differences in academic achievement.