Confusion over Domasi, Chanco merger
The Domasi College of Education is in an identity crisis following reports of a merger with Chancellor College’s Faculty of Education.
Meanwhile, Domasi College is also missing on the list of accredited public colleges by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) which has University of Malawi (Unima), Mzuzu University, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Malawi University of Science and Technology.
NCHE Corporate Services Manager, Dingan Soko, said Domasi College does not appear on the list as it offers its diplomas through Unima.
“They are registered but they are not an examiner on their own. They offer their programmes under the University of Malawi brand,” he said.
According to the Unima website, Domasi is one of the colleges under the federation which also has College of Medicine, The Polytechnic, Kamuzu College of Nursing and Chanco.
However, both government and the concerned parties claim the merger of the two institutions is not yet there.
When contacted yesterday, Domasi College Acting Principal Arnold Mwanza admitted the confusion, saying they are waiting for a policy direction on the matter.
He, however, said despite the development, life at the institution is normal.
In another interview, Chancellor College Principal, Richard Tambulasi, expressed ignorance on any merger between his institution and Domasi College of Education.
Ministry of Education spokesperson Manfred Ndovi said the proposed merger has not yet been concluded.
“Currently, consultations are still under way to find the best way of merging the two institutions. However, Domasi College of Education will continue to operate normally until the consultations are through,” he said.
Education analyst Roy Hauya said lack of decisiveness on the matter is costly as the institution is being underutilised.
“I believe that the establishment of a school of education as part of the university would have improved quality of secondary school teachers. As the ministry seeks corrections to this quality tragedy, the university should become more engaged in the college at Domasi,” he said.
Hauya also said the college needs to move beyond teaching and embrace research to generate knowledge.
“By now they should have been churning out masters and Phds using the academia based in Zomba. We should be providing studies at masters level both for part-time degrees on and off campus and we can set up online courses from certificate to degree level for teachers to study wherever they are.
“More innovative programmes should be developed to capture teachers and other educationists who require to study at masters and Phd levels. We have the people, we have the infrastructure and what we need is the innovative mind,” he said.
Domasi College of Education was established in 1993 to train secondary school teachers to alleviate the shortage of teachers in the country.
The college has the capacity to accommodate over 500 students, with about 200 places for new leaners each year.
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