CHAPTER 7
Higher Education Summary of the Chapter University enrollments almost doubled from 2003–2008, partly because of the enrollment of non residential students and the establishment of private universities (which contributed 12.4 percent to the total enrollment in 2008). Female enrollment has remained at around 30 percent in public institutions and around 40 percent in private institutions. However, Malawi still has the lowest university enrollment (51 per 100,000 inhabitants) when compared to some SSA countries whose average is 337. Limited infrastructure constrains the growth of university education. Malawi universities offer 18 fields of study. Education, applied science, commerce, social sciences, and the humanities account for the highest enrollment. Science and engineering are each around 4.3 percent of total enrollment. Information and communication technologies (ICT) is around 2.7 percent. Post graduate studies account for less than 10 percent of total enrollment. The highest enrollments are in the social sciences and science. Private colleges are not yet offering post graduate programs. Areas critical to the implementation of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) are not well covered. The amount of the education budget allocated to higher education (27 percent) is higher than the average (21 percent) for SSA countries. The subventions account for over 80 percent of the income of public universities, while student fees and other income contribute less than 10 percent each. Government subsidization of higher education is a source of great inequity because over 90 percent of university students come from the wealthiest 20 percent of Malawi households. Student fees are the main source of income for private universities. Emoluments and benefits consume more than 50 percent of expenditures in public institutions. Very little is spent on teaching materials, equipment, books, and periodicals. Emoluments take up less than 40 percent of the total expenditure in private universities (which also spend more on teaching materials than public institutions). Malawi’s higher education recurrent unit cost of 21.5 times the GDP per capita is the highest among all the SSA countries (for which the average is 3.14 times the GDP per capita). This is because the average student/lecturer ratio of 11:1 for both public and private institutions is very low compared to other countries in SSA (the average is 20:4) of similar GDP. Lecturer’s salaries, expressed at 63.9 times the GDP per capita, are also higher compared to other SSA countries with a similar GDP (the average is 23.8 times GDP per capita). This also contributes to a very high unit cost.
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