Journal of Social Development in Africa (1995), 10,2,53-60 
Apprenticeship Systems and the Creation 
of Employment Opportunities 
PAUL KISHINDO * 
ABSTRACT 
This article examines the difficulties of extending literacy training, adult education 
and vocational training to out-of-work youth within the context of Malawi. The 
central argument of this paper is that unless the mass of illiterate and semi-literate 
youths are given practical skills to enable them to earn a livelihood, their 
employment and earning prospects are bleak. Without gainful employment these 
out-of-school youths will be unable to escape the poverty trap. An apprenticeship 
scheme, linked to the functional literacy programme is advocated as a means for 
skills training. Under the scheme a learner would be attached to an experienced 
artisan or craftsman to learn a trade or craft by direct observation and practice. 
Introduction 
The first school in Malawi was established by Presbyterian missionaries from 
Scotland in 1875. All missionary groups who came after them such as the 
Universities Mission to Central Africa (Anglican), White Fathers (Catholic) and 
Seventh Day Adventists also established their own schools. Apart from teaching 
reading, writing and arithmetic the schools were used as vehicles for evangelisation. 
Muslims had their own schools which emphasised Koran reading andrecitals. 
Muslim children were prevented from attending church-run schools lest they be 
converted to Christianity. Beginning 1908 the churches received some financial 
assistance from the colonial government to help them run the schools but this was 
far from adequate (Pretorius, 1971:73). Government did not take part in the direct 
provision of education until the 1950s when it established a secondary school and 
a few primary schools. Formal education remained the domain of the Christian 
churches till 1962. 
On August 15,1961 the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) won the first general 
elections which paved the way to self-government Inorder to ensure greater access 
to formal education, rationalise the curriculum, and ensure uniformity in the 
quality of teachers, government took over control of education from the churches. 
* Associate Professor of Sociology, Chancellor College, University of Malawi.
54 PaulKishindo 
District Councils were henceforth to serve as local education authorities. Religious 
affiliation ceased to be a condition for admission to education institutions. The 
government hoped that the latter move would encourage Muslim parents in such 
districts as Mangochi, Machinga, Salima and Nkhota Kota, hitherto reluctant to 
send their children to church schools, to begin doing so. At the same time local 
communities were encouraged to build their own schools since government's own 
resources were inadequate to build enough schools to absorb the ever-increasing 
numbers of school-age children. Community-built schools would ensure the 
availability of school education to a larger number of school-age children than 
before when these had to be built by the churches from their limited resources. 
In spite of the primary school building boom since 1962 the literacy rate in the 
country remains low. At the time of independence in 1964 only an estimated 10% 
of the population was literate. This rose to 12% in 1966, and to 23% in 1977 
(UNICEF/MalawiGovernment,1991:186). It is estimated that between 1966and 
1980 an average 95,000 new illiterates were added to the population every year 
because school-age children did not enrol in school, or those who did enrol dropped 
out of school before Standard 5 when the Malawian child is supposed to acquire 
basic literacy (UNICEF/Malawi Government, 1991:186). In 1987 the literacy rate 
stood at 42% (Malawi Government, 1991:10). Although this was an improvement 
on the previous rates the rate of improvement is very slow. Given the fact that the 
country's population is growing at the rate of 3,2% annually and primary education 
was not free until October 1994 when school fees were abolished, the number of 
illiterates added to the population is not likely to have decreased. A 1990 survey 
indicated that over 50% of the estimated 2,6 million 6-17year olds in the country 
were either school drop-outs or never attended school (UNICEF/Malawi Government, 
1993:127). Lack of formal education is a barrier to formal employment and 
wage-earning. 
Employment and Income Opportunities 
Malawi is apredominantly rural country. According to the 1987 population census, 
out of a population of 7,988,507, 89% live in the rural areas, while 11% live in 
urban areas (Malawi Government, 1991:7). 
The industrial sector is underdeveloped. The few manufacturing industries that 
exist are heavily dependent on imported raw materials and frequent lack of foreign 
exchange interrupts production. The agricultural sector is bimodal: on the one hand 
is the export-oriented estate subsector producing high value crops such as burley 
and flue-cured tobacco, tea, rubber and sugar for export; and on the other, the 
smallholder sector producing largely for domestic consumption. The estate subsector, 
which is labour-intensive, provides seasonal as well as permanent employ-
Apprenticeship Systems & Employment Opportunities 55 
ment to some Malawians. Although smallholder fanners are predominantly 
engaged in production of food crops for their own consumption, they may sell part 
of their food harvest for cash; or grow some cash crops such as cotton, groundnuts 
and sunflower to earn cash incomes with which to pay for desired goods and 
services. Although the smallholder sector is characterised by self-employment, the 
near-landless and smallest smallholders are also suppliers of a considerable 
amount of labour to larger smallholders and to the estates. Larger smallholders hire 
ganyu labour, especially during peak fanning periods for clearing, planting and 
weeding. Payment may be in cash or kind and wages tend to be low. 
The 1987 population census reveals that out of the economically active 
population aged 10 years and over, only 10 per cent were in wage or salaried 
employment while 3 per cent were self-employed. The rest engaged in subsistence 
farming (Malawi Government, 1991:11). The public sector was the major employer 
of labour in the country, and is likely to remain so for a long time given the 
slow rate at which the industrial sector is growing. Given the limited employment 
prospects in the formal sector, increasing scarcity of arable land and expensive 
farm inputs, self-employment in the informal sector of the country's four major 
urban areas of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Zomba is becoming an attractive 
option for young persons with low, and without formal, academic qualifications. 
Street vending for self or other business owners has over the last few years become 
a major source of employment for illiterate and semi-literate children and youths. 
The Adult and Functional Literacy Programme 
A number of factors operating in isolation or in combination ensure that school age 
children are not enrolled in school, or leave school before they acquire the ability 
to read and write. The major one of these was identified as school fees, which 
parents had to pay to enrol their children (see, eg, World Bank, 1990:40). School 
fees and the added financial burden of buying school uniforms, which, until 
October 1994, was compulsory, was too much for many rural families whose cash 
incomes were very low or non-existent. Other factors identified were early 
marriages for girls among some ethnic groups such as the Yao; inaccessibility of 
schools due to long distances; the preference for Koranic education in predominantly 
Muslim areas; the opportunity-cost of child labour to the domestic economy; 
and the perceived irrelevance of formal education to the process of wealth 
accumulation, especially in those areas of the country endowed with natural 
resources such as the Jakeshore districts and the agriculturally rich central region. 
To combat adult literacy the MCP government in 1962 launched an adult 
literacy programme as part of community development efforts. Volunteer edu-
56 PaulKishindo 
cated members of the community taught basic literacy and numeracy to their 
illiterate fellow citizens. 
By 1970 adult literacy activities had spread to all districts in the country. No 
enrolment statistics are readily available; however, a UNESCO survey carried out 
in 1979 reported that the number of graduates from the adult literacy programme 
between 1970and 1978 number 11,400 (UNICEF/MalawiGovernment 1991:186). 
When the period 1962 to 1970 is taken into account the number of graduates should 
be much higher. However, the curriculum that had been designed for the adult 
literacy programme emphasised literacy and numeracy per se and was not linked 
to socioeconomic development efforts. 
Under the influence of UNESCO the government launched the functional 
literacy programme in 1986. The functional literacy programme differed from the 
earlier adult literacy programme in that it sought to establish a direct link between 
the acquisition of reading, writing and numerical skills and the solution of 
problems which impeded progress towards a higher standard of living for individuals, 
families and communities. It also sought to include 15 year-olds who traditionally 
could not be regarded as adults. 
The National Centre for Literacy and Adult Education in the Ministry of 
Community Services has responsibility for developing the curriculum and producing 
teaching and learning materials, as well as training personnel (Ministry of 
Community Services, 1990: unpaged). It receives input from ministries and 
departments involved in socioeconomic development efforts such as those of 
health, education, agriculture, and community development 
Local communities are responsible for selecting from within their own community 
persons to be selected for training as tutors, providing space for classes and 
generally ensuring the success of the literacy centre. The Ministry of Community 
Services pays a small honorarium of K15 per month (Kl currently US$0,06) to the 
tutors. The smallness of the honorarium is meant to emphasise the government's 
view that adult literacy teaching is really part of community development in which 
all reasonable citizens must participate. 
Learners are taught to read and write Chichewa, which along with English, is the 
official language. The emphasis is on delivering usable information simultaneously 
with the teaching of literacy and numeracy. Learners progress from reading 
vowels and words to sentences like the following: 
"Feteleza amachulukitsa zokolola" (Fertiliser increases yields). 
"Tetezani ana kumatendapolandira katemera" (Immunise your children against 
disease). 
(Ministry of Community Services, 1984).
Apprenticeship Systems & Employment Opportunities 57 
Instructors can use the sentence being learned as a basis for a more detailed 
discussion of a related subject. Thus the sentence about fertiliser could be used as 
abasis of a discussion on soil fertility enhancement, timely application of fertiliser; 
and types of fertiliser, their appropriate uses and appropriate levels of application. 
From simple sentences the learners progress to more complex stories about crop 
production, marketing, immunisation, child care, and nutrition, among other topics 
(Ministry of Community Services, 1991). 
In numeracy simple numerical calculations with a practical relevance are 
emphasised. An example might be: if one bag of fertiliser costs K65, how much 
would four bags cost? Or: if a fanner harvests 20 bags of maize and he sells seven 
of them; how many bags remain? Simple calculations such as these enable the 
learners toseethedirectrelevanceof numeracy to the problems that they encounter 
in their daily lives as they strive to achieve a higher standard of living. 
Where appropriate supplementary literature is available, the functional literacy 
programme could supplement the efforts of frontline workers in agriculture, health 
and community development, who are too few on the ground to effectively provide 
advice to their clientele. It must be borne in mind, however, that the emphasis on 
Chichewa in the functional literacy programme discriminates against people in 
those areas of the country where the language is not widely spoken, for example 
the northern part of the country bordering Tanzania. 
Although the functional literacy programme also caters for out-of-school 
youths, it has failed to attract and retain youth enrolment. A 1991 survey of nonformal 
education for out-of-school youths carried out under the auspices of 
UNICEF in some parts of the country revealed that only 1,2 per cent of the 1,000 
male and females aged 15-20 that were interviewed attended a functional literacy 
centre. 
The absence of a literacy centre within walking distance was given by 94,9 per 
cent of the sample as areason for not attending (Kishindo, 1991:21). However, it 
should not be assumed that simply establishing a literacy centre in a village would 
automatically ensure enrolment by youths. Out of the 28 interviewees (2,8%) who 
actually had functioning literacy centres in their villages, only six attended; but 
even these six indicated their dissatisfaction with the programme on the grounds 
of instructor absenteeism, inadequacy of reading materials, inclusion of young and 
old in the same class and irrelevance of the curriculum to employment (Kishindo, 
1991:24). Out of the sample of 1,000 some 83,2 per cent indicated that they would 
be interested in some form of education that enabled them to get wage employment 
or to be self-employed. From the evidence it would appear that out-of-school 
youths are more concerned with getting jobs to earn a living than the mere 
acquisition of reading, writing and numerical skills. The emphasis on formal 
academic qualifications in the formal sector effectively excludes people without
58 Paul Kishindo 
formal education from all but the most menial jobs such as labourers or cleaners. 
A few out-of-school youths may get occasional employment as labourers, fishermen, 
domestic servants or child minders in their communities. Some may drift to 
the towns and cities in the hope of finding employment as domestic servants, 
gardeners or child minders in the homes of the more affluent Malawians and 
expatriates; or as street vendors for Asian-owned businesses. It is not uncommon 
for this kind of worker to be paid lower than the statutory minimum wage because 
most of them are not aware of the statutory minimum wage legislation, or where 
to lodge their complaints. 
Vocational Training 
The existing technical schools demand as a minimum entry qualification a Junior 
Certificate of Education (obtained after two years of secondary education), while 
the rural trade schools require at least eightyears of primary school education. This 
effectively excludes all those who never had anyformal education or had onlyafew 
years of it. However, if poverty is to be alleviated, the youths, who are the next 
generation of adults should be equipped with the capacity to earn a cash income. 
This could be done by training them in marketable skills. Since no formal training 
institutions will admit them, these skills would have to be obtained through a nonformal 
apprenticeship system linked to the functional literacy programme. An 
apprentice should be able to read, write and do simple calculations, since many 
trades and crafts demand these skills if they are going to be carried out properly. 
A carpenter, for example, needs to be able to record, as well as calculate 
measurements for precision. 
Learners who have successfully acquired reading, writing and numerical skills 
would as a next stage, be encouraged to become apprentices to local artisans and 
craftsmen to learn a trade or a craft. The most commonly available artisans and 
craftsmen in Malawi are blacksmiths, tin smiths, bricklayers, hairdressers, tailors, 
barbers, shoe repairers, bakers, bicycle mechanics, carpenters, curio carvers, 
basket and mat weavers. Thus someone interested in learning carpentry, for 
example, would be attached to a carpenter from whom he would learn the trade till 
he mastered it. The system of apprenticeship such as the one being proposed here 
is believed to have played an important role in the emergence and growth of 
Nigeria's private economy (Coombs & Ahmed, 1974:140). 
If this kind of apprenticeship is to benefit the thousands of out-of-school youths 
it would obviously need proper organisation. The Ministry of Community Services, 
through its frontline workers, would have to identify the expertise available 
in the different communities, and the individuals willing to take on apprentices. It
Apprenticeship Systems & Employment Opportunities 59 
is likely that there would be a preponderance of particular skills in one community: 
in such a situation would be apprentices should be free to go where the skills they 
want are available. An honorarium would need to be paid to the master artisans and 
craftsmen preferably based on the number of apprentices taken on. 
In non-formal apprenticeships one learns a trade by observation and practice 
(Kayser, 1991:24). To be able to gain the necessary experience and confidence, the 
apprentice needs a lot of practice. This implies the availability of enough orders for 
the enterprise to create work for the master artisan and his apprentices. In the rural 
areas, where people are predominantly dependent on small-scale agriculture for 
cash incomes, demand for the services of artisans and craftsmen is intermittent, 
depending upon the agricultural season: thus demand is higher during the marketing 
season when people have cash from the sale of their farm produce than at any 
other time. The lack of demand for the services of artisans would deprive the 
apprentices of continuous practice and so interrupt their progress in acquiring the 
appropriate skills. To avoid this situation, the government, local governments, or 
non-governmental organisations interested in grassroots development should set 
up skills centres in selected villages where out-of-school youths could come to 
learn the various trades and crafts (cf Kipkorir, 1975:190). The role of the government 
agency, local government or non-governmental organisation is to ensure that 
the relevant materials and equipment are available and that training is not 
interrupted by a drop in demand for services, and to pay honoraria. 
The village skills centres are intended to complement the more informal 
apprenticeship system. Unlike the Kenyan Village Polytechnic concept which has 
come to rely heavily on formally trained and salaried instructors, and is supervised 
and directed by a government department (Mawiyo, 1990:331), the village skills 
centre is intended to centre around the master artisan and craftsman, using 
unsophisticated machinery and equipment, and imparting skills through nonformal 
means rather than following a standardised curriculum. 
Apprentices who have acquired the relevant skills may opt to work for someone 
else, or to set up as independent operators. Since most of them are likely to lack the 
financial resources to set up as independent operators, the financial assistance of 
small enterprise funding agencies such as the recently established Malawi Rural 
Finance Company, which does not require collateral, may have to be sought The 
new artisans and craftsmen should be free to take their skills wherever (including 
towns and cities) there is the greatest opportunity of making a reasonable living. 
In a country where people retain very strong ties with the village even when they 
are urban-based, the benefits accruing from higher incomes can be expected to 
trickle down to the rural areas in the form of remittances to family members. It is 
believed thatmostof the better houses in Malawian villages belong eitherto former 
migrant labourers or relatives of migrants labourers, especially those in South 
Africa.
60 PaulKishindo 
Conclusion 
Unless out-of-school youths, who will constitute the next generation of adults, can 
acquire skills that can enable them to earn cash incomes either through wage or selfemployment, 
they cannot expect to escape from poverty and destitution since their 
lack of formal educational qualifications can only allow them to hold low paying 
menial jobs, which are not always available. The benefits accruing from increased 
earnings through wage or self-employment can be expected to trickle down to the 
village resulting in a higher standard of living for the families of the artisans and 
craftsmen. It is expected that Department of Community Development officials, 
politicians, church and influential people in local communities would encourage 
out-of school youths and adults to enrol in the functional literacy programme, and 
then go on to learn a trade or a craft. The possibility of economic independence 
through wage or self employment is likely to be a greater motivating force for 
participation in non-formal educational programmes than the mere acquisition of 
the ability to read and write. 
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