Private schools

Besides the public schools there are a lot of private schools in Malawi at all levels. At private primary schools the amount of children per class is lower compared to the public primary schools where the child per class ratio is on average about 100. As a result there is more attention per child at private primary schools. These primary schools are not for free and most families cannot afford to pay for the private primary schools.

Of the children who pass standard 8 only about 35% are selected for secondary schools, due to the fact there are not enough secondary schools. The children who are not selected can choose to go to a private secondary school, but these fees are normally a lot higher compared to public secondary schools and most children can not afford to pay these fees. In practice some of the children who did pass standard 8, but are not selected for a secondary school, will take standard 8 again in the hope for a better PSLE result and to get selected for a secondary school the next year. 

If a student applies for a university or college after they finished secondary school, they can also choose to go to a private university or college. This however will be only possible for a few as the fees at tertiary level are around twice as high compared to secondary level and the private ones are even more expensive.

The fees for the public secondary schools are for most families/students already too high to be able to pay for and therefore the scholarships are a really necessary project and good investment in Malawi.