Attending school in Malawi is now compulsory between the ages of six to thirteen inclusive (eight years in total.) As noted else where on these pages, Malawi is one of the poorest countries on the planet and the government recognised that the cycle of poverty could not be broken without getting Malawi children into school to be properly educated. Unfortunately these harsh economic conditions have meant that some three quarters of secondary school aged children have left school to either work or stay at home provide care for their families.

A typical primary school in Malawi has between 800 -850 pupils and classes often hold between 70-100 pupils, some even as high as 150. Fortunately most of the school children are well motivated and enthusiastic about learning so class management isn't, in general, a problem. The curriculum is wide ranging but although numeracy and literacy are at its core, the focus isn't on just achieving good exam results but on social development as well including good citizenship.