MALAWI: Catholic University Academic Highlights Impoverishment and Injustice in Education Sector
Luke Bisani
Rev. Fr. Benedict Zele, an academic at the Catholic University of Malawi, has expressed concern about the impoverishment and the normalization of injustices faced by learners in the country.
During a public lecture titled “Attenuating Harmful Socialization in Institutions of Higher Learning: The Paramount Importance of Critical Self-Reflection for Authentic Transformation,” Fr. Zele discussed the significant gap between students from Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS) and those selected for national secondary schools and higher education.
Fr. Zele pointed out that although many learners attend CDSS, their opportunities for admission into institutions of higher learning are limited due to a lack of resources.
He referenced the 2025 National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) public university selection list, which showed that at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), only 1 of 112 MBBS (Bachelor of Surgery and Medicine) program students selected came from a CDSS. None were chosen for Dental Surgery, Pharmacy, or Medical Laboratory Sciences.
Highlighting the problem, Fr. Zele noted that “the majority of candidates being prepared as change agents appear to be products of an inequitable system.”
He shared troubling statistics indicating that CDSS learners comprise 75% of the secondary school population, according to a 2021 USAID report.
Fr. Zele called for strategies to address the disadvantages faced by CDSS learners in gaining entry to higher education.
He noted that many students end up in CDSS due to poverty, which severely impacts their educational opportunities from a young age.
In conclusion, Fr. Zele quoted Bell Hooks, an American scholar who said: “To build community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continue to do to undermine all that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination.”
