The Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) has identified significant gaps in the implementation and allocation of the education budget in Malawi.
According to Limbani Nsapato, CSEC’s board chairperson, “The challenges facing the education sector are not just numbers in a report, but they are real barriers preventing Malawi from achieving its Vision 2063 and SDG 4 commitments.”
Nsapato highlighted several alarming trends, including underfunding, delayed disbursements, and unequal allocation of resources, which disproportionately affect marginalized groups such as girls, children with disabilities, and learners in remote areas.
“Our expenditure tracking exercise in eight education districts reveals alarming trends… marginalised groups especially girls, children with disabilities and learners in remote areas are still left behind,” he said.
He also emphasized the shortage of learning and teaching materials as a major challenge facing the education sector.
Brainex Kaisi, chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, concurred that underfunding is a significant challenge that undermines education standards in Malawi.
“The little resources that are allocated to the ministry are not used for intended purposes. There is need to monitor the money allocated. Secondly, we are going to lobby with the ministry of finance as well as education to increase the budget allocation,” he said.
The CSEC’s findings and concerns were presented during a gathering of stakeholders in the education sector, which aimed to discuss the 2024/25 education budget expenditure and the 2025/26 Draft National Budget.
