Responsibilities for Inclusive Education

Responsibilities for Inclusive Education

Table 2 highlights the key roles and responsibilities related to financing and workforce development for inclusive education in Malawi, as set out in the NSIE.65

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) is responsible for developing and implementing standards, policies, plans and strategies related to education in Malawi, and the overall coordination and implementation of the NSIE. Implementation, including the distribution of teachers and monitoring, is the responsibility of the District Education Offices. Within MoEST, the Department of Special Needs Education is responsible for national coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of special needs education, including facilitating the training and professional development of specialist teachers, advocacy, collaboration with other stakeholders, and mobilising and allocating resources.

The NSIE establishes an Inclusive Education Coordination Unit at national and district levels to “coordinate the planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of inclusive education in Malawi”, provide technical support and “build capacity of MoEST directorates, divisions and district education management on inclusive education management and financing”.66 To further support this, the NESIP also promotes the development of a standalone policy for inclusive education with guidelines to improve governance and the management of resources allocated to inclusive education across the sector.67

Table 2: Roles and Responsibilities for Inclusive Education in Malawi

Shareholder

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

District Education Managers

Malawi Institute of Education

Ministry of Health and Disability Service Providers

Civil Society and Private Sector

Development Partners Key roles and responsibilities

• Lobby Ministry of Finance to allocate more resources for inclusive education • Strengthen monitoring and evaluation of inclusive education to ensure quality • Review existing education policies and laws to embrace inclusive education principles • Strengthen national and international partnerships in the implementation of inclusive education • Strengthen capacity building in the education sector on inclusive education

• Ensure the district education plans, programmes and budgets are inclusive • Strengthen the capacity of district education management teams on inclusive education • Supervise and regularly monitor the implementation of inclusive education in the district • Facilitate the development of inclusive district Education Management Information Systems (EMIS)

• Conduct in-service training for teachers and administrators on inclusive education

• Provide specialised training to teachers and parents in the area of disability

• Strengthen lobbying and advocacy programmes with various players for inclusive education activities • Lobby for inclusive policies and practices within the education sector • Assist the Government in resource mobilisation

• Provide technical, material and financial resources to implement inclusive education activities • Promote coordination strategies among partners to avoid duplications and inefficiencies in inclusive education programmes, • Create a forum where different partners in inclusive education can share experiences in the implementation of inclusive education