Education Act

This section says the Act may be cited as the Education Act.

This section defines key terms used in the Act.

This Act does not apply to universities and certain education institutions, including some government and religious, social, or recreational institutions.

The Minister must promote education and carry out key national education functions, including curriculum design, standards, monitoring, and transparent administration.

This section states the purposes and goals of education in Malawi, including self-reliance, national development, unity, good governance, moral behaviour, environmental awareness, vocational skills, equality of opportunity, and innovation.

An Advisory Council is established to advise the Minister on education matters and carry out listed education-policy functions.

This section sets the Advisory Council’s size, term, appointment process, leadership selection, secretary, and its power to set its own procedures.

The Advisory Council may invite people to attend meetings or committee meetings, and invited people may take part in the proceedings but cannot vote.

The Chairperson of the Advisory Council must report to the Council at each meeting on action taken by the Minister in matters the Council has advised on.

Orders appointing an Advisory Council, and appointments, revocations, and resignations of its members, must be published in the Gazette.

The Minister may use available public funds to support education-related schools, colleges, services, accommodation, training, recreation, and technical instruction.

The local government authority is responsible for primary education in its area, and it may agree with another local government authority to administer and manage primary schools in that other authority’s jurisdiction.

Primary education in Government schools must be free, and primary education is compulsory for children under 18.

Every local government authority must appoint an education committee and a secretary for it, and the committee must report to the authority.

A local government authority must carry out several primary-education duties in its area, including planning, funding, control, reporting, record-keeping, and compliance with ministerial directions.

A local government authority must consult affected school proprietors, share plan particulars, give directions if particulars are missing or inadequate, and provide a copy of the development plan to every primary school proprietor in its area.

Local government authorities have power to fund, manage, inspect, and support primary education in their area.

This section sets the membership and meeting rules for an education committee, including appointment, chair election, removal, vacancies, attendance, and voting limits.

Local government authorities may delegate certain duties and powers to their education committees, and education committees must prepare draft annual revenue and expenditure estimates and draft development plans for approval.

A secretary of an education committee must do preparatory work for the committee and perform several support and inspection duties.

Local government authorities must establish school management committees for Government primary schools or assisted primary schools.

The Minister must publish a Gazette notice setting rules for school management committees.

The school management committee must assist school management and advise the local government authority and proprietor on several school matters.

A local government authority may suspend public funding to an assisted school if it is satisfied the school proprietor is obstructing the school management committee.

The Minister controls Government secondary schools and Government colleges and may establish Boards of Governors by Gazette order when appropriate.

An order creating a Board of Governors must set out how the Board is constituted and operates, and the Board may have corporate powers if the order says so.

A proprietor of a non-government secondary school or college is responsible for management, may appoint a qualified manager only with the Minister’s written consent and registration-related conditions, and still keeps all responsibilities and liabilities.

The Minister must consult the proprietor, and the proprietor must submit a proposal, before a Board of Governors is set up for an assisted secondary school or college. The Minister may establish the Board by Gazette order if there is an agreement.

An order creating a Board of Governors must set out the Board’s name, membership, management role, continuity rules, member changes, responsibilities, and other agreed matters. The Board may be given corporate status, contract and land powers, and the Minister may later vary the order in some cases.

Certain vested-property orders are exempt from stamp duty, and registration officers must register them or a copy at the Minister’s request without charging a fee, but only if presented in line with the registry’s regulations and forms.

The Minister may establish and maintain Government schools and colleges for education, and may also provide hostels and other buildings for student boarding and teacher housing in some cases.

Any person may establish and run a private school or college at their own expense, but non-government schools or colleges need the Minister’s approval.

All schools and colleges must be classified as Government, assisted, or private.

The Minister must set up and keep a Register of Schools and Colleges, and use a classification system that separates primary schools from other schools.

A school or college proprietor must keep education in line with the registered particulars and must not mislead people about the school’s type or registration status.

Anyone who wants to establish a school or college must first apply to the Minister for registration, and school or college buildings and student enrolment are not allowed before the required approval or registration is obtained.

Anyone who wants to establish a school or college must apply in writing to the Minister for registration.

School or college proprietors need the Minister’s prior written approval before making a variation to the establishment.

The Minister must keep a Register of Schools and Colleges, publish the registered names at least once a year, and the Register must be open for public inspection; the Ministry must also share copies with local government authorities.

If a school or college’s registration is cancelled, the Minister must publish notice of the cancellation in the Gazette and in at least one widely circulated local newspaper.

If a complaint about a school or college leads to an inspection, the Minister must notify the proprietor in writing of the remedial steps required, and the notice may also say the school could be closed or grants-in-aid withheld or postponed if nothing is done.

This section establishes the Education Appeals Tribunal and gives the Minister rule-making and funding powers.

The Education Appeals Tribunal may dismiss a complaint, close a school or college, order conditional closure, or postpone consideration of a complaint about a teacher.

The Minister may close a school or college on specified grounds, may reopen it if the proprietor complies and it has been closed for under six months, and the proprietor may appeal a closure order.

The Minister may take over a closed school or college and arrange its reopening, and the proprietor may have to hand over the property and seek compensation within the stated time.

If the Minister takes possession of a primary school under this Act, the Minister must hand it over to the local government authority for the area within six months.

The Minister may take possession of a school or college and related property to reopen it if it is not handed over as required, and police may assist on written request.

A proprietor who does not close a school or college when ordered to do so under section 43 or 45 commits an offence.

The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, declare publications or periodical publications unsuitable for use in schools or colleges.

Public officers appointed by name or office must perform inspector functions for schools and colleges, and appointees must have relevant qualifications plus at least 10 years’ experience.

The Minister must arrange inspections of schools and colleges, and inspectors must report on inspections and share report copies with the school or college, and with the local authority for primary schools.

An inspector must promote education quality and carry out several oversight and advisory functions.

Inspectors may enter and inspect schools, colleges, and suspected school premises, require records or information, remove items for examination, and make logbook entries. Obstructing a lawful inspection is an offence.

School and college proprietors must run the institution lawfully, keep required records, provide information, ensure proper conduct and exam compliance, and follow rules on teacher pay and conditions for assisted schools or colleges.

A person must not own, run, or manage a school or college unless the Minister has given prior written consent.

A school or college proprietor must refund grant-in-aid that was overpaid because of misrepresentation, a false return, or a bona fide mistake; if the grant was for a specific purpose and that purpose was not carried out, the grant must be refunded.

The Teachers Council of Malawi is established as a body corporate.

The Council must include the listed appointed and ex officio members, non-ex officio members serve for three years, members elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson at the first meeting, and ex officio members cannot be elected to either role.

A Council member’s office becomes vacant if the member’s term ends, dies, is bankrupt, is sentenced to imprisonment without a fine option for an offence, misses three consecutive noticed meetings, resigns in writing, or becomes unable to perform duties because of mental or physical infirmity.

This section sets rules for Council meetings, including who calls them, how often they must happen, who presides, quorum, minutes, and voting.

A member who has a direct or indirect interest in a matter being considered by the Council must disclose that interest as soon as practicable after the meeting starts and must not join the discussion or vote.

The Council is the sole registering authority for teachers who must be registered or licensed under the Act, and it has several related functions.

The Council has power to manage the Register, handle property and funds, consider teaching-profession matters, recognize qualifications, and do other necessary functions.

The Council may create committees, appoint their chairpersons, give them functions, and direct how they operate.

The Council must appoint a Registrar, may appoint a Deputy Registrar and other staff, and can delegate some hiring to the Registrar.

The Registrar must maintain teacher registers, update them under the Council’s direction, remove names in specified cases, record reasons for removals, and publish removed names in the Gazette and two newspapers.

People who meet the listed training, character, probation, and register-history conditions can apply to be registered as a teacher and get an authority to teach. Registered teachers must tell the Registrar about changes in their registered details, and the Minister may prescribe the application form.

The Council may license people to teach, set conditions on licences, review or withdraw them, and refuse renewal. The Registrar must record issued licences, and the Council must publish the names of licensees.

Teaching in a school or college is prohibited unless the person has a teaching licence or authority from the Council, and licence holders must follow the licence conditions.

A person affected by a refusal to register or license, or by removal from the relevant teacher register or roll, may appeal to the Education Appeals Tribunal within three months after notice from the Registrar.

It is an offence for an unlicensed person to teach or assist in teaching, or for anyone to hire such a person as a teacher, and licensed teachers must follow the conditions on their licence.

Certificates signed by the Registrar can be used as evidence about teacher register entries, licensing records, and whether a person is registered.

The Council’s funds come from parliamentary appropriations, registration and annual membership fees, and other money or assets that vest in or accrue to it. The Council may also accept grants, subsidies, bequests, donations, or gifts from other persons.

The Council must keep proper accounting records for its funds and comply with the Public Audit, Public Finance Management, and Public Procurement Acts.

The Council’s accounts must be examined and audited every year by auditors appointed by the Council.

The Minister must promote a national curriculum for schools and colleges, and the Institute is responsible for designing and developing it.

Teacher training curricula must reflect the national curriculum, be diversified for education for all, have study areas and structure prescribed by the Minister, and be designed and developed by the Institute under the Act.

Schools and colleges must use English as the medium of instruction, and the Minister may prescribe another language of instruction for schools by Gazette notice.

The Minister must supervise and control instruction in schools and colleges covered by the Act, and may prescribe the syllabus to be followed.

Religious instruction is generally required in government and assisted schools and colleges, with parent-based exemptions and ministerial control over the syllabus and application of the section.

The Institute must run a quality-assurance process for textbooks and other instructional materials, set publication criteria, publish approved lists, and keep development separate from evaluation.

The provision establishes the Malawi Institute of Education as a body corporate and gives it corporate powers.

The Board must include the listed appointed and ex officio members, and non-ex officio members serve for three years unless an earlier date is set at appointment.

The Board must carry out the listed education-related functions, including curriculum work, reviewing materials, training teachers, research, publishing, and admitting students to Institute courses.

The Board has power to manage and administer the Institute and to approve, appoint, employ, evaluate, control funds for, and award qualifications for its work.

A non-ex officio Board member stops being a member if certain events happen, including repeated unexplained absences, bankruptcy, death, imprisonment for an offence, incapacity, or resignation with one month’s notice.

The Executive Director of the Institute is the Board’s secretary unless the Board directs otherwise.

The Board must meet at least three times a year. The Chairperson must give 14 days’ written notice for ordinary meetings and must call an extraordinary meeting within 7 days if six or more members request it in writing.

This section sets how Board meetings work: quorum is two-thirds, only members present may vote, decisions are by majority, and the Chairperson or presiding member gets a casting vote if votes are tied.

The Board must appoint an Executive Director, and the Executive Director is the Institute’s principal administrator.

The Institute must have a Deputy Executive Director, appointed by the Board from qualified persons, and the Deputy Executive Director must answer to and assist the Executive Director.

The Board must appoint additional staff needed to carry out the Institute’s functions.

The Board sets the service terms for the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, and other Board-appointed staff, but the Minister must approve them.

Most proposals or reports about the Institute’s management or activities must be submitted in writing to the Board.

The Board may withdraw a student or course participant for serious disciplinary or management reasons, and the Executive Director may suspend a student in similar cases.

The Board must set up a Finance and Audit Committee. The committee must report recommendations to the Board on finance, budget, spending, and annual accounts, and the Board must appoint a finance-experienced chairperson from among its members.

The Executive Director must control the Institute’s day-to-day spending for the Board and report that spending to the Board three times a year, or more often if the Board directs.

The Board must give the Minister annual accounts, or accounts whenever the Minister directs, and provide next year’s income and expenditure estimate.

The Board must pay the Institute’s expenses and keep necessary funds in a current account with a registered bank. The Institute’s annual expenditure cannot exceed the amount approved by the Minister, and virement between heads is directed by the Board’s Finance and Audit Committee.

The Board may, with the Minister’s approval, ask the public or any person or body for subscriptions and donations for projects or purposes it considers beneficial to the Institute.

The Board may borrow money with the Minister’s prior approval and may invest unused funds on terms approved by the Minister.

The Board must keep the Institute’s property in good repair and may make alterations to the grounds, buildings, fixtures, or fittings if it considers them beneficial to the Institute.

Students entering a school or college must obey the school or college rules and orders that follow directions from the local government authority or Minister. A Board of Governors may tell a school or college to cancel or change its standing orders or rules.

The Minister or a local government authority may arrange medical examinations for students at a school or college after notifying parents. Consent can be dispensed with if the school or college management thinks circumstances require it because of emergency or other factors.

The Minister may make regulations about fees charged at Government schools and colleges, except government primary schools.

The Minister may make regulations or rules for this Act, but only on matters not already covered by another Part of the Act.

The Minister may delegate certain powers or duties to a named person or holder of a designated office, but not the listed reserved powers.

Defective appointment of a member does not invalidate acts or proceedings of covered bodies.

If a person commits an offence under this Act and no special penalty applies, the person is liable to a fine of K100,000 and imprisonment for 12 months.

Notices and other required documents may be delivered in person or sent by post to the person concerned, using the address specified for the relevant category. A posted document is treated as received no later than 21 days after posting.

This section repeals the Education Act and saves existing subsidiary legislation, appointments, and registrations by treating them as if made under this Act.

At commencement, unregistered or unlicensed teachers must register or get licensed within 6 months, and proprietors of unregistered private schools or colleges must register them within 3 months.