Kamuzu Academy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Described by its proponents as "The Eton of Africa", Kamuzu Academy is a school in Malawi that was founded by, and named after, the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the autocratic former President.
Contents |
[edit] History
Founded in November 1981 in Mtunthama, 150 kilometres north of Lilongwe the capital city of Malawi, the school initially had 300 pupils, and a budget of 40 million United States dollars taken from the state education budget.
In 1994, when Hastings Kamuzu Banda lost power as president of Malawi, funding for the school ceased. The electricity was cut off and teachers left. However, in subsequent years the school has been revived and is now a private school, charging a fee ($5500 per pupil per year in 2003), and teaching a GCSE and A-level syllabus inclusive of Latin and Ancient Greek to 390 pupils.
Whilst Kamuzu Banda was still in power, the school only accepted the three best students from every district, who had to write a separate examination from the Primary School Leaving Certificate. Understandably, it opened new horizons for some who had never seen electricity, let alone experienced an urban lifesyle. Everything from uniforms to bedding, shoes, socks, textbooks, lab equipment, paints and sports attire was free. This is not the case since the school changed into a private school.
[edit] Facilities
Academic facilities: A library modelled on Washington’s Library of Congress, auditorium, science labs, band, art, and home economics rooms. Outdoor amphitheatre and computer rooms.
Sports facilities: The school has an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a 10 hole golf course, an impressive pavilion overlooking a running track and main sports field, tennis courts, squash courts two further sports fields, as well as outdoor basketball and volleyball courts.
[edit] Curriculum
Although Latin and Greek are compulsory up to the age of 17, the school teaches no local languages, such as Chichewa. Subjects include, Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Economics, English, French, Geography, Greek, Latin, Mathematics, Music, Physics and Double Award Science.
Staff
As of 2003, there were 38 staff, of whom twenty were from the United Kingdom, seventeen from Malawi (the original prohibition on Malawi staff having been lifted) and one from New Zealand.
The headmaster is Manchester-born Francis Cooke, MBE, who was appointed as a history teacher in 1982 and became the head teacher in 1997.
[edit] References
- Rory Carroll. "Africa’s top school survives the lean times", theTeacher, 2003-05-09.
- "The Head of Kamuzu Academy gets an MBE", Brian's education Blog, 2003-01-05.
The school also offers other subjects such as Art and Technical Drawing, which are not offered in Government schools.
