Recent structures on the education system and standards in Malawi that was made by one of the Bretton Woods institutions must be treated as welcome and timely.
The observation was to the effect that there are no enough graduates, and that Malawi is not producing the type of graduates, that are required for its development such as graduates in engineering, business administration and tourism.
Other countries in the region are said to be well-ahead of Malawi in this respect.
There is a dilemma here. How can the world’s poorest country match the richer ones in its educational supply and standards. Other necessary services such as health, security, physical structures are competing for the same little budget. However, this must not look like an excuse. Generally, it is very helpful when outside experts are drawing our attention to what is not being done or is being done badly. It is not that such observations have not been made before by local commentators, but that they have been ignored or denounced by official spokespersons.
As I have said in several of my commentaries, we are not organised for success. We need an institution or department staffed with experts who will examine ideas which are floating in the air to see if they contain seeds that can germinate into economic and social success. Ideas put out by both foreign and local experts should be regarded as what in marketing management is known as brainstorming. Certain things suggested may not make sense but out of ten proposals about a third may be worth serious attention. Unfortunately, there is no one or no institution charged with such responsibility or so it appears to me. As it has often been observed, where you say this is everybody’s responsibility it turns out that nobody shoulders any responsibility. Like Cain in the Bible, if everyone is asked why they have not done that which was proposed, the reply is: Am I my brother’s keeper?
We need a ministry that will be responsible for seeing to it that things ought to be done are being done, I doubt very much if the Ministry of Development and Planning is maximizing its role. It ought to be reconstituted and placed under the Vice President as a super ministry. To place it under the Minister of Finance is to relegate it to a cinderella position. We often hear Goodall Gondwe commenting as a Minister of Finance but rarely as a Minister of Development and Planning. In a country like ours where financial problems are overwhelming the Minister of Finance is carrying a full time burden without requiring another ministry.
The observation that Malawi is not producing enough graduates must be countered with the question; is the country sufficiently creating jobs for the impending graduates? As things are at present, Malawi seems already to be producing more graduates than she can employ and pay. Even though there are plenty of vacancies for doctors, nurses and teachers, recently the media has been telling us that the government is finding it difficult to employ all those it has educated and trained. There must be balanced growth of human capital and jobs.
High standards of education and training depend on high quality teachers. The front cover of the Economist dated June 11th to 17th 2016 is headed. “How to make a good teacher” The article inside ought to be read by policy makers for teachers and instructors. We are told that “Good teachers set clear goals, enforce high lesson time wisely. They use tried and tested instruction techniques to ensure that all the brains are working all of the time. For example asking questions in the classroom with “cold calling” rather than relying on the same eager pupils to up their hands.
During my school days I remember that Livingstonia missionaries regularly conducted what they called refresher courses for English and vernacular grade teachers. It was realised that experienced teachers usually were experienced in out-dated methods of teaching that they had to be re-oriented and rejuvenated.
Napoleon Bonaparte said it is wrong to fight the same enemy again and again because you teach your techniques. How does this teach to our national football team, the Flames.
Every time they play either against Zambia or Zimbabwe national teams Flames are heavily defeated and humiliated. Do our coaches ever sit down with players to analyse enemy teams, how they are coached, players are selected?
In selecting football coaches the usual method I presume is to appoint someone who has made a name as a topnotch player, I wonder if this is the best approach. In setting up a sales management team it has long been discovered that a top sales person when promoted to sales manager does not always prove so adept. The techniques of selling and management require different talents and personalities.
Just as refresher courses are necessary for teachers so are they necessary for our football coaches. Why not arrange for their visits to countries like Brazil to watch how coaches train their teams there. In Malawi, we do not make progress in most fields, educational and economic because we are conservative. We do not want to try new ways of doing things. A person that does the routine work perfectly is the one who is admired and promoted. We do not look for innovaters, hence we get stuck at the bottom of the development and progress ladder.
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