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Education decentralisation in Malawi : current trends and developments.

The government of Malawi has embarked on a decentralisation program, whose
primary objective is to improve service delivery. The program is implemented by
transferring responsibility and authority from central office to the district
assemblies. The study aimed at assessing the implementation situation of
education decentralisation and its effects on the district education office
operations and the primary school support. The study uses qualitative research
method and undertook a case study of two districts. Data was collected by using
in-depth individual interviews and document analysis. The results show that
decentralisation is a complex phenomenon with problems at all stages from
design to implementation. On the one hand the government appears committed
to transferring responsibilities and authority gradually to district assembly level
while on the other hand it is not prepared to compensate for the disparities
existing in the districts by increasing resources. There is an acute shortage of
material and human resources in terms of numbers as well as competency
levels. This has affected the pace and smooth implementation of
decentralisation. Because decentralisation is not a ‘once and for all’ act but a
complex process, it is recommended to intensify advocacy, capacity building and
support with relevant resources at all levels.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/5920
Date07 January 2009
CreatorsKufaine, Noel Drake
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatapplication/pdf

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