Educational Innovations in Developing Countries : Implications and Challenges for Policy Change in Malawi

This paper tries to share some of the experiences that developing countries face in trying to improve the provision of basic education services. The paper is based on the experiences from the work the author has done over a number of years in the field of education. In particular, the author uses the Free Primary Education policy in Malawi to demonstrate the predicaments that these countries face when they are encouraged to attempt to achieve Education For All (EFA). The paper's main message is that in the short-run, the achievement of EFA is not possible without a high degree of committed assistance from local and international organisations. The amount of resource need and the accompanying logistics make the task insurmountable for these developing countries.