The Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) has questioned the accreditation of school materials in Malawi following the banning of Chichewa literature book “Kusintha Maganizo ndi nkhani zina”.
Government through the ministry of education, science and technology announced that it has withdrawn a prescribed Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) Chichewa literature book over its story “Mdalitso Wabodza”.
The story is about a Catholic Church nun who was impregnated by a Catholic priest.
According to the ministry, the story is insensitive to the Catholic Church and therefore not appropriate for study purpose at national curriculum level.
Commenting on the development, CSEC Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe said the accreditation of books for learning purpose has been noted to be having loopholes.
“You cannot separate education and religion, because from the word go, you can note that the Church plays significant role in as far as education is concerned, we have a number of schools being run by the Church,” said Kondowe.
He further urged government to ensure working with the Church on education matters in the country.
Government has announced that it is to replace the withdrawn book on the national curriculum with another one.
