By Deborah Madeya:
Some teachers in the country have expressed concern over the delay by the government to distribute mathematics textbooks for learners in standard 1 to 4, saying this is affecting teaching and learning.
One of the teachers, who declined to be named but works in Salima District, said they were just revising last term textbooks as they were waiting for the government to supply them with textbooks for this term.
Another teacher, who teaches in Blantyre District, echoed the sentiments.
She said the government should have planned properly for the activity.
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“We opened this term in January and, now, it’s been like a month but textbooks are yet to come. Some teachers are using textbooks meant for term one which is not helping because we already taught the work from the first term textbooks and now it’s like we are just revising what was already covered,” she said.
Public schools in Malawi opened on January 5, 2026 for the second term of the 2025-26 academic year.
According to the current arrangement, the government supplies textbooks for learners at the beginning of a term.
Ministry of Education spokesperson Lily Kampani acknowledged the delay, saying it was due to congestion at the Port of Beira in Mozambique, where the textbooks landed.
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“Currently, the textbooks have been collected from the port and are in our warehouses, where we are currently facilitating their nationwide distribution. Some schools, particularly in the Shire Highlands and South West education divisions, have already received the textbooks while distribution to the remaining schools is ongoing,” Kampani said.
Meanwhile, quality education advocate Benedicto Kondowe has urged the Ministry of Education to normalise early planning, procurement and distribution to ensure that textbooks reach schools before the start of an academic term.
“This requires timely budgeting, clear accountability across supply chains and regular monitoring at district level. Delays in distributing mathematics textbooks for Standards 1 to 4 seriously compromise learning at the foundation level.
“Without the correct textbooks, learners miss key concepts early, making it harder to catch up later. Reliance on last term’s textbooks also limits access to materials, weakens lesson delivery and widens learning inequalities— ultimately lowering overall education quality,” he said.
The government introduced the national mathematics curriculum reforms programme in 2022 with the aim of improving learning outcomes in mathematics, especially in junior primary, so that learners can have a solid foundation in basic skills
