Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of management on teaching and learning in Malawian Secondary Schools. With a spate of poor Malawi School Certificate Examinations (MSCE) results and the rampant breakdown of student discipline, the various stakeholders have put the blame on ineffective and inefficient school-based management.
Four public secondary schools of different characteristics in Central West Education Division in Malawi were identified for the study. The study was guided by three principal research questions: What are the contributing factors to school-based management ineffectiveness and inefficiency? What is the impact of school-based management ineffectiveness and inefficiency on teaching and learning process? And what strategies have school-based management and the Ministry of Education put in place to redress these problems and how effective are these strategies?
A mixed design approach was used in the study. Quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) methods were used to collect data. 64 students and 20 heads of departments completed the student and senior school staff questionnaires respectively. Four headteachers, the Education Division Manager (CWED) and the Training Manager (DTED) were interviewed. The quantitative and qualitative data collected were analysed.
The results show that the impact of management ineffectiveness and inefficiency has profound effect on teaching and learning in the four schools of study. Many classes are not being attended to by some subject teachers; student attainment is low, and many students repeat in the schools in order to improve their examination results. This has been caused mainly by inadequate managerial knowledge and skills, and inadequate resources. Therefore, there is need for both the schools and Ministry of Education to implement a number of innovations in order to improve the situation.