Inside private secondary schools in Malawi: Access or exclusion?

• In Malawi there is a very small government secondary school system and enrolment is low.
• Demand has grown for private secondary schools, which now educate 20% of secondary students.
• Government and private schools are diverse and include a wide price and quality range.
• Almost all students in secondary schools are from the top wealth quintile and private schools do not expand access beyond this.
• Quality in the cheapest private schools is low and fluctuation of students and teachers is high.

In Malawi, net enrolment rates at secondary level are less than 30%. Most children do not complete primary school; others are discouraged by the costs of secondary schooling. Most secondary school students go to government schools, but private schools enrol about 20%. These private schools include a range of prices and quality, but all are unaffordable for those outside the wealthiest quintile. This paper explores 15 lower price private secondary schools. It describes the students in the schools, their teachers, their infrastructure and their business model. We find that while private secondary schools provide access to secondary school for some children who cannot go to government schools, they do not provide sustainable quality secondary education that could be extended to children outside the top quintile of household wealth.