Education as a Path to Political Awareness in Malawi - Research Paper Example

Education as a Path to Political Awareness in Malawi Malawi is a country in the southeastern region of Africa with Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia as it neighbors, which makes it a landlocked nation. The gained independence from its colonial masters, the British in 1964, and was the dictatorship of Hastings Banda until 1994. Education in Malawi is not compulsory, but there is a provision in the country’s constitution that requires every person to have at least five years of primary education. Free primary education in Malawi was established in 1994 by the government, which increased enrollment and attendance rates. Attendance rates for all children in Malawi have improved since the introduction of free primary education. This can be attributed to improved learning materials in schools, feeding programs and better infrastructure have all contributed to improved education standards. Subsequently, youth literacy levels have increased with overall literacy levels in the country projected to increase in the next decade. Education is touted as the key to success because it opens up people’s minds to new ideas, and brings understanding of concepts and perspectives that work to improve their lives and those around them. The dictatorship in Malawi undermined education efforts because of the widespread corruption and disregard of public service. This paper seeks to discuss education as a path towards political awareness in Malawi. The political leadership in Malawi since independence can be termed to have been wanting, to say the least. In the first chapters of the novel The Boy who Harnessed the Wind William Kamkwamba, the author, mentions the background information, which is mostly negative, on powerful dictator Banda. He says, “He became our first great leader, and in 1971, under extreme pressure, our Parliament gave him the tile Life President”1. This is because it was characterized by a political dictatorship that concentrated on looting public funds and resources for the benefit of a few political and wealthy elite. Banda’s regime was ‘irrelevant’ to the needs of people, with government institutions being ineffective, which had a direct impact on education in the country2. Lack of proper legislation and political will to support education led to extreme levels of illiteracy in the country’s general population. Breakdown in governance translated to extreme levels of poverty with the country’s general population being ravaged by famine year after year. The government’s unwillingness to address the needs and wants of the people in Malawi led to the decline in education standards that were established by the colonial leadership before independence. The lack of education in Malawi left people to rely on age-old traditional practices and customs because there was no other alternative available to them. Poverty was so ingrained that even those who wished to advance their lives through education ultimately failed in their endeavors because education ranked low in their priorities of life. Education is seen as a vital component of every sovereign country’s development agenda because it ensures that there will be an educated ad informed workforce to drive economic activities. Political awareness is advanced by education because the needs and wants for society are easily understandable to the literate than to the illiterate. Democracy is only feasible in a country where the population is educated thus, putting it in a position to understand the benefits of democracy over other institutions of governance. Education makes people aware of their rights both at an individual and national level, which makes them aware of their unique position of holding their governments accountable and answerable for their actions. Political awareness in Malawi was long suppressed through an indirect suppression of education in the country because the political elite knew the power of education. Banda knew that largely literate population would not condone his style of leadership and his popularity as the leader for life would diminish. This can be exhibited by the fact that the few who got a chance to get an education rose up or were intolerant of Banda’s tyranny, and they fled the country for fear of persecution. Education is the path to enlightenment including political and social awareness in Malawi and in any other country in the world. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a book by William Kamkwamba and Bryn Mealer that gives an account of a boy born and brought up in rural Malawi. The book is an account of an individual’s first-hand experience with life in Malawi and impacts and influences of a lack of education in a community. Majority of the population in Malawi was illiterate with science and technology being a pipe dream for most of the country’s residents. People still believe in magic and few political and wealthy elite of society accrued the benefits of modern medicine. According to kamkwamba, the Malawian society was additionally faced with the problem of prostitution and alcoholism, which added to the country’s already critical health situation. Malawi is still one of the most underdeveloped countries in Africa and the world; to add to this, it is also one of the countries with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Africa3. It is apparent from Kamkwamba’s accounts that the people of Malawi know the importance of education and the potential it has for improving their lives. This is illustrated in Kamkwamba’s family efforts of sending him to a private boarding school because they knew that if he got educated, he would alleviate his family’s suffering. Kamkwamba managed to get a little education, which he utilized to create and build a wind turbine for electricity and water pumping in his village. This goes to show just how powerful education is because only a momentary exposure to education inspired Kamkwamba to achieve admirable and great fetes given his circumstances. Thus, it can be conclusively postulated that education not only is the key to the future but it is also the source of individual enlightenment as witnessed by the people of Kamkwamba’s village. Education is the key to political awareness and social empowerment of groups of people in Malawi especially for women and children. Education in Malawi will see an increased support for democracy because it promotes change in attitudes and participation in political affairs affecting people’s daily lives. The World Bank sees equitable access to education as an essential component of ensuring a sustained progress towards democracy, better governance and civic participation in democracy4. There exists a problem, in Malawi and other African countries, that education endows illiterate citizens with political rights that they may exercise irresponsibly and unreflectively5. It can be stated education played a significant role in the democratization of Malawi, which was witnessed by the abolition of primary school fees high on the agenda of political parties in the democratic elections. Malawi is a good example of a developing country that lacks education and as a consequence a proper political system. Education is important in structuring and developing the foundation of political systems in the country. This is only achievable through a democratic process that advocates for transparency and accountability of the country’s political machinery and institutions. Before the introduction of democracy, the Malawian government had total control over its people. It controlled the only source of mass media including radio and print media. “Unfortunately, until a few years ago, there were only two radio stations-Radio One and Radio Two-that were both operated by government. This greatly reduced our window into the outside world,” says William (68)?. The goings of Malawi’s public life was strictly controlled and censored by the oppressive regime leading to a virtual blackout of any useful information. Democratization of Malawi can be said to have not been significantly influenced by education in the sense that it was not the educated masses or citizenry that called for democratic governance. Majority of Malawi’s population was and is still not sufficiently educated compared to other African countries in its class. Countries in Africa that got their independence at around the same time with Malawi like Kenya and Ghana have higher education and political standards. The push and agitation for democracy in Malawi can be postulated to have been a cause of the winds of change that were blowing through the rest of the continent in countries like Kenya and Ghana (Harber 158). This though does not mean that education is irrelevant in democratic Malawi; education is the lifeline of political awareness and social empowerment for the Malawian people. This is because education strongly determines the sustainability of democratic political systems in Malawi. It strengthens people’s understanding of their role and right to police the government in its servitude to their needs as the electorate. This ensures that the political future is supported through a sustainable attitude and concept in the general population. Through education, political awareness is enhanced by way of increased understanding of public service and private sector’s role in the country’s economic, social and political relevance. The value of education in a political context is that it improves peoples cognitive processes and values thus, enabling them to make the right and reflective political choices and decisions. Through education, the citizenry’s skepticism about the government will be more politically aware on different issues affecting the country. Education in Malawi is still being faced by numerous challenges, which hamper the advancement of education policies formulated to increase levels of education in the country. To relative education standards in the country, the government should focus on improving other sectors of the economy that are directly or indirectly linked to education in the country. There lacks proper and adequate infrastructure to ensure that there is proper learning and achievement of the country’s education goals and objectives. The Malawian adult literacy levels stood at 60% for women and 79% as of the introduction of a democratic system of governance in 1994 (Chinsinga 383). Recent years have seen the country’s education sector being faced by various challenges that include a serious lack of classrooms, learning materials and a lack of qualified teachers. The teacher to pupil ratio is 1:107, with the problem being worse in rural areas where sociocultural factors like early marriages for girls further hampering efforts to improve education standards in the country. Education in Malawi will see the progression of the country forward in terms of development and increased political awareness of its people. This will be through increased understanding the country’s political landscape and the meaning of democracy to its people. Education makes people more aware of their rights, and it promotes social empowerment of everyone in society. Education creates an enlightened society that is more receptive of new ideas, philosophies and concepts that work to better their status and wellbeing. Increased social empowerment and political awareness in Malawi will see greater move towards the establishment of more democratic political systems and processes. The wellbeing of the people will be assured for the long term, which enables the pursuance of the country’s development agenda unhindered. Works Cited Chinsinga, Blessings. "The Politics of Land Reforms in Malawi: The Case of the Community Based Rural Land Development Programme (CBRLDP)." Journal of International Development 23, no. 3 (2011): 380-393. doi:10.1002/jid.1776. This paper talks about the political journey from a one/man party state to a multiparty democratic nation. It details the factors that assisted the agitation for democracy in Malawi and the different players involved in the process. Evans, Geoffrey and Pauline Rose. "Support for Democracy in Malawi: Does Schooling Matter?" World Development 35, no. 5 (2007): 904-919. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2006.09.011. This paper details the condition of education and its standards inn Malawi. The paper offers a debate regarding the role of education in politics and democracy. It seeks to answer the question whether education is necessary in the democratization process. Harber, Clive. Education, democracy and political development in Africa. Sussex Academic Press, 1997. This book explores the political situation in the African continent and the role of education in democratic Africa. Education is viewed from different perspectives and examples are drawn from different African countries. Ihonvbere, Julius O. "From Despotism to Democracy: The Rise of Multiparty Politics in Malawi." Third World Quarterly 18, no. 2 (Jun., 1997): 225-247. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.bu.edu/stable/3993221. This paper traces the path or journey of how Malawi went form a one party state to a multiparty democracy. The author lists most factors that stimulated the country’s entry into elective multiparty politics and democracy. Stasavage, David. "Democracy and Education Spending in Africa." American Journal of Political Science 49, no. 2 (Apr., 2005): 343-358. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.bu.edu/stable/3647681. This paper discusses the role of education in politics and how it affects the development o f democracy in various countries in Africa. It also highlights the plight of education standards and efforts being made to improve them through policy formulation and implementation. Read More