Primary education, which begins at age six and lasts for eight years, is compulsory. Secondary education, made up of two cycles of two years each, begins at age 14. Primary education was made free in 1994, leading to a considerable increase in the already high student-teacher ratio and underscoring the growing need for the expansion of postprimary education. Efforts have been made to bridge the gap in personnel and resources, including teacher training programs intended to reduce the pupil-to-teacher ratio, curriculum development and reform, and the construction of new classrooms.

Part of the response to free primary education and the consequent need for more room in secondary schools has been the proliferation of privately owned schools. Through numerous Distance Education Centres (DECs), the Malawi College of Distance Education has been available to students unable to attend regular secondary school. In the late 1990s, however, the DECs were converted into Community Day Secondary Schools, which further increased the need for teaching staff. Kamuzu Academy at Mtunthama, which opened in 1981 as a selective secondary school, has increasingly become limited to those who can afford its very high fees.

Efforts have been made to meet the urgent demand for more teachers. In addition to the various training colleges that specialize in primary education, facilities and programs are being improved at institutes that also focus on secondary education, including the Domasi College of Education (1993) and the University of Mzuzu (1999). Secondary teacher education also features prominently at the Chancellor College campus of the University of Malawi (1964), the country’s oldest and largest university.

In addition to the Chancellor College, the University of Malawi’s other constituent colleges include a liberal arts college in Zomba, a medical school and a Polytechnic in Blantyre, and colleges of agriculture and nursing in Lilongwe. The minimum qualification for entry into the universities is a good grade in the Malawi School Certificate of Education Examination, which is administered by the Malawi National Examination Board.

There are several vocational training centres in Malawi, specializing mainly in masonry, carpentry, printing, motor mechanics, and welding.

Daily life and social customs

Many Malawians observe holidays celebrated by Christian societies throughout the world, including Easter and Christmas. Holidays celebrated by the Muslim community—including ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā, which marks the culmination of the hajj—are governed by the lunar calendar. In addition to these, other holidays include John Chilembwe Day on January 15, in honour of the missionary who was a forerunner of Malawian nationalism; Martyrs’ Day on March 3, commemorating those who lost their lives in a 1959 uprising against the British colonial administration; Freedom Day on June 14, in honour of the many Malawians who struggled for the country’s transition to a multiparty democracy during the early 1990s; Republic Day on July 6, commemorating Malawian independence; Labour Day on May 1; and Mother’s Day, which is celebrated in October.

The arts

Various traditional arts and crafts, including sculpture in wood and ivory, form part of Malawi’s material and aesthetic culture. A variety of musical forms, both local and international, are also important. One of the most distinctive features of Malawian culture is the enormous variety of traditional songs and dances that feature the drum as the major musical instrument. Among the most notable of these dances are ingoma and gule wa mkulu, performed by men, and chimtali and visekese, performed by women.

Through domestic broadcasts and international broadcasts received by way of shortwave radio, Malawians—especially those of the younger generations—have always been part of world pop culture and enjoy many international musical artists. Western popular music forms a major repertoire on local radio. It is associated with the more modern urban nightclubs, and most town-based local artists play it rather than music with a strictly African-sounding beat. African styles of pop music are also very popular among all ages in Malawi, however, and, because of strong historical ties with South Africa, township music such as mbaqanga has always occupied a significant place in the Malawian musical culture. Equally notable is the popularity of Congolese music (a mixture of traditional African rhythms and instruments and those borrowed from other cultures), which, along with mbaqanga, tends to be played in both villages and bars in the urban centres.

Cultural institutions

Important artifacts of Malawian history, art, and culture are preserved in the country’s museums, including the Malawi Museum, also known as the Chichiri Museum, in Blantyre; the Lake Malawi Museum, which displays ethnographic and historical exhibits, in Mangochi; the Cultural Museum Center, which features items of natural and cultural significance, in Karonga; and the Chamare Museum at Mua Catholic Mission, which specializes in arts and crafts and has training facilities for prospective sculptors. In addition, Malawian cultural expression is also preserved in situ at such locations as the Chongoni rock-art area (designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006), where more than 100 sites feature rock paintings by agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers, the oldest of which may date back to the 6th century bce.

The Malawi National Dance Troupe (formerly the Kwacha Cultural Troupe), formed in 1987, works to preserve the performing arts culture of various ethnic groups; the Chancellor College Travelling Theatre (affiliated with the University of Malawi), the Wakhumbata Theatre Ensemble, and other groups in Blantyre and Lilongwe have been an effective means of bringing traditional and modern plays to rural and urban populations.

Sports and recreation

Most people in rural Malawi spend their time attending to their farms; when they are not doing so—which is usually in the dry months—they may visit their friends or go to local school football (soccer) matches, often played on weekends on rough and uneven grounds. In many areas men play bawo, similar to checkers. Dance competitions, pitting teams from different areas against one another, are also popular in rural Malawi. Football, boxing, netball, cinema, and theatre arts play a major role in the leisure life of urban Malawians.

National football squads frequently compete in matches in neighbouring countries, but, because of a shortage of travel funds, they seldom venture far. In September 1999 the government awarded the Malawi Council of Sports a sizable grant to improve the country’s sporting infrastructure and allow Malawian teams to travel abroad more regularly. Malawian athletes have distinguished themselves in the sport of netball and have sent teams to the World Netball Championships and to the African Games. Malawi formed a national Olympic committee in 1968 and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee that year. Malawian athletes have attended most Summer Games since that time but did join in the boycotts of the 1976 and 1980 games.

Media and publishing

A variety of publications are circulated in Malawi. Widely read publications include The Daily Times, published in English; Malawi News, a weekly published in Chewa and English; The Nation, a daily published in English and Nyanja; The Mirror, a weekly published in English and Nyanja; and Odini, published fortnightly in Chewa and English. Of the periodicals in distribution, Boma Lathu, which is published quarterly in Chewa by the Ministry of Information, is the most widely circulated; Moni Magazine and This Is Malawi—monthlies published in both Chewa and English—are also important.

The state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation is the major radio broadcaster in the country. Until 1994, programs were broadcast only in Chewa and English; programs have since been made available in additional languages, including Yao, Tumbuka, Lomwe, Sena, and Tonga. There are also a number of commercial radio stations in operation, some of which are operated by the country’s various religious organizations. TV Malawi, the first television establishment, started operating in 1999, initially in Blantyre and Lilongwe. Until that time, only those with satellite dishes and access to M-Net, a South African subscription television service, had any access to this form of entertainment. TV Malawi broadcasts both local and international programming.