Only a quarter of Malawian children who enter primary school finish the eight-year course. And almost 70 percent of Malawians aged 15 years and above do not have a secondary school education. The numbers are worse for girls, at 74 percent. This is part of Malawi’s colonial legacy.

The theme for this year’s World Teachers Day is “Empowering teachers, building sustainable societies.” It is such a gratifying, highly motivating theme, demonstrating the seriousness with which the teaching profession needs to be taken. Without urgent attention to the state of this key profession in Africa – and globally – the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the just launched Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved.

Africa’s future is too important to be left to the African Union alone. Much more work needs to be done for ordinary people to own the process of the continent’s renewal, working side by side with the Pan-African body.

The new policy ignores serious systemic challenges within Malawi’s education system. It discourages the use of local languages in favour of English, a fact that has important cultural ramifications. In sum, the policy makers have misdiagnosed the problem and prescribed the wrong medicine

The question of whether or not Malawi should start considering the feasibility of providing free secondary school education is really one of whether or not Malawi should consider strengthening its human capital

Problems in Malawi’s education sector are tied to the country’s governance and have their roots in a broader global context of economic and education policy prescriptions

Rarely are positive stories of Africa represented in the Western media about African people. Steve Sharra shares some inspiring examples of young Malawians that should inspire young and old alike across the African continent.

At the heart of the quota system debate is the incredibly small number of students who are admitted to Malawi’s public universities. Malawi ranks bottom in the university-age cohort of young people enrolled annually.

‘As an environmentalist, Hastings was a walking library of knowledge about Mulanje Mountain and the environment in Malawi.’

The late President Mutharika was hailed at home and abroad. But after the 2009 landslide re-election victory, his quest to engineer the election of his brother to succeed him in 2014 and increased autocracy astounded many.