Stakeholders' Perception of the Language of Instruction Policy in Malawian Primary Schools and its Implications for the Quality of Education

The language of instruction or the language of learning policy for Malawi states that students should be taught using their mother tongue/ language during the fi rst four years of Primary and in English from standard five onwards. This study examines how stakeholders perceive this policy and how it is implemented. To achieve these objectives, these research questions were set: what language is used as a language of instruction; what are the stakeholders` attitudes towards the initial use of mother tongue and the switch to English; and what adaptations and changes stakeholders made during the implementation process that should shape the future of education in Malawi. A questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected students of standard 4 and 6, their teachers, head teachers and the district education manager of Mangochi district. Analysis of data indicates that language used for instruction is different from the mother tongue of 90 percent of the students. This is the case because stakeholders believe that the national language and English are more useful in finding employment and passing nation examinations. However, the study found that most students surveyed, are unable to read and write texts in Chichewa and English. The study concludes that by partially implementing the policy, the quality of education is affected in Mangochi, Malawi