Education NGOs and CSOs in Malawi
Malawi has a long history of NGO and civil society involvement in education. Whereas in the past their activities centred on improving service delivery, many NGOs now focus on providing policy and advocacy work to improve the quality of education. The Teachers’ Union of Malawi (TUM) is the main national teachers’ union, with a membership of nearly 50,000 primary and secondary school teachers. The Private Schools Association of Malawi (PRISAM) is the representative union for teachers working in private schools. The Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE) was formed to make it possible for NGOs involved in the education sector to be more organised and to work better together. CSCQBE has been commended for its efforts in monitoring the Ministry of Education’s budget spending, and ensuring that promised school supplies reach their intended targets. The Alliance for Basic Education in Malawi is a recently established NGO-government collaboration aimed at promoting an integrated, comprehensive and efficient education system for the delivery of quality basic education in Malawi.