Abstract

This study follows concerns raised by various stakeholders indicating that despite the emphasis of community participation in Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs), the students’ access to education in these schools as well as the quality and relevancy of education taking place in these schools remain unsatisfactory. The study focused on identifying the role local communities were playing in the management of these schools and why their impact seems unimpressive. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, an exploration was made into the experiences of the main stakeholders in ten purposely-selected CDSSs in Blantyre, Chikwawa and Zomba districts. In-Depth Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, Questionnaires and Observations were the main methods used to collect data. Literature reveals that community schools are mostly initiated by local communities, sometimes with the assistance of Government or Non Governmental Organizations in order to improve access to education for people in disadvantaged areas. A high level of community participation in the day-to day management of the school is the hallmark of a community school. Generally, the schools pride themselves in that their curriculum takes into account the needs of the community and their students have relatively high achievement mostly attributed to the high level of community involvement in the schools. The study found that the stakeholders do not know the proper definition of CDSSs, particularly how they differ from Conventional Secondary Schools. Furthermore, although a long period has gone since the schools were converted from DECs; the communities have not yet been sensitized about their role in the schools. The community’s participation in these schools is largely in resource mobilization and not in real decision-making process of the schools. This poor degree of community participation is believed to have contributed to the poor access, quality, and relevancy of education in these schools. There is however a potential for proper community participation where communities are involved in real decision-making in the affairs of the school and take ownership of the outcome of those decisions. This form of participation leads to increased access to education, quality and relevancy of the education and student achievement. This thesis recognizes the fact that the effectiveness of any policy depends on the context in which the policy is being implemented. This study therefore suggests that, some policies should be formulated to address the unfair inequalities existing between CDSSs and CSSs.

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School	: School of Education
Issued Date	: 2008

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