The Malawian view on Community Participation in School Development: a qualatitive program evaluation in the south of Malawi

Abstract

In this research, the Basic Education Support Program (BESP) is evaluated and an outline is provided of community participation in the south of Malawi. The accent of the BESP lies on increasing community participation in creating learner friendly schools. Since the community and its members are the ‘instrument’ and starting point in the BESP to create learner friendly schools, their attitudes towards the project were evaluated. The research was conducted in five communities in the south of Malawi that joined the BESP. All of these communities consist of five groups, knowing the chiefs, the School Management Committee (SMC) together with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the teachers, the parents, and the pupils. With each group of each community, a focus group was held where discussions about the questioning route took place. The discussions yielded information on what Malawians understand by the term community participation, which elements in the program the community itself experiences as important for community participation in school improvement, and on challenges that were faced when invoking community participation in school improvement.