Reconciling Policy and practice in Open Secondary Schools’ (OSS) admission: The case of two schools in Zomba

Abstract

The research aimed at exploring the admission practices and processes in open secondary schools and their nature of compliance to the admission aspirations of the Malawi College of Distance Education (MCDE) mandate and the National Education Policy (NEP). The study used interpretivism focusing on the perceptions and experiences of the policy’s stakeholders on admission praxis and processes in Zomba City open schooling. The research contested the nature of awareness about standard admission requirements in OSS, the processes, practice and primary considerations of admission in OSS and how policy enforcers (MCDE and MoEST/DES) interface with Open Secondary Schools to conform to admission policy standards. Purposive Sampling was used to identify the open schools and the responsible admission policy stakeholders. Host School headteachers, OSS coordinators, OSS MoEST officials responsible for admissions were engaged. Content and thematic methods through N vivo were used to analyse the data generated. The research found that OSS administrators tend to manipulate the admission policy to their ego needs, where financial gains and other informal influences lead to indiscriminate admission of students. The data also revealed the need for a sound regulatory framework in OSS to curb haphazard implementation and manipulation of the admission policy. Training, inspections, clear sanctioning and coordination and cooperation have been suggested for a strong regulatory framework. The research addresses he policy and practice divide in OSS by analysis the causes and consequences of admission policy non-compliance and proposing actionable solutions.