| dc.description.abstract | Over the past few years researchers have been studying access reforms, as well as uncovering
challenges related to systems with low participation rates; Examples of this type of work are
Teferra and Altbach (2003), Maharasoa (2003) and World Bank (2008). A key factor often
addressed are various reforms related to access policies, often merely descriptions of access
reforms in general or the status quo of systems are given, particularly those with low
participation rates or needing access reforms (Weber, 2005). The relationship between
participation rates, access policies and the governance of higher education has however not
yet been thoroughly examined.
The purpose of this qualitative study is to present the results of an analysis carried out to
investigate the research question: Is there a relationship between participation rates, access
policies and the governance of higher education access in Malawi? The access-policygovernance
theory whose proponents are Tapper (2005), Ball (1990), Bunting et al (2005)
and Clark (1983), among others, formed the basis for a proposed framework of evaluating the
governance of higher education access in Malawi. The data involved in this study are national
educational policies and institutional policy. The second data set are interviews with fourteen
personnel who are involved in formulation and implementation of higher education access
policies and the governance of higher education, both at a national level in Malawi and
institutional level at the University of Malawi.
A conclusion is drawn that the policies which were utilised and the governance structure
created from them generated the limited nature of access which characterises Malawi’s higher
education sector. The policies belonging to the University of Malawi, for example, generated
proposed growth in student numbers without drastic changes in the general governance
structure of the university. Thus the University of Malawi was unable to maintain the growth
that the institutional policies intended. This research is of significance to the domain of
governance of access as it extends the knowledge base that currently exists in the field of
higher education studies. The concept of linking participation rates, access policies and the
governance of higher education is relatively under-researched in this field. It is hoped that
this study has added to the understanding of this relationship by addressing the significance | en_US |
