Publication:

STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN A DEMOCRATIC MALAWI THE CASE OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTH EAST EDUCATION DIVISON

The problem of secondary school indiscipline has been a concern in Malawi more especially after the attainment of multiparty democracy in 1994. This study investigated whether or not secondary school management has had any influence on this. In particular, the study investigated the level of participation of different stakeholders in school management, a practice that is believed to be an aspect of democratic dispensation. The study was conducted in six purposefully selected secondary schools of the South East Education Division in the southern region of Malawi. The six secondary schools were grouped into Community Day Secondary Schools, Private Secondary Schools and Conventional Secondary Schools and two were sampled from each group. The study was qualitative in approach and employed a case study design. In-depth structured and semi structured interviews were used to gather responses from the respondents. Thirty-two teachers, two parents and fifty-two prefects took part in the study. The main finding from the study was that teachers’ and students’ participation in school management was mainly through collaboration and information-sharing. For the parents, information-sharing was the main level of participation evident. There was less of consultation and joint decision-making on the part of the three stakeholders in the schools meaning that the views from different stakeholders are not sought before a decision is made in most cases. Consequently, management practices in secondary schools are less democratic. The study, therefore, recommends a lot more of consultation and joint decision-making in secondary school management in order for the schools to be consistent with the democratic dispensation.