Although most of Africa threw off colonial rule four decades ago, the continent's education systems still bear the heavy imprint of curricula designed by erstwhile foreign regimes. In the face of poverty, unemployment, disease, global competition and rapidly changing technology, Africa must ask whether those colonial models are still relevant. Most African countries have removed the derogatory references from colonial education but retained its essential structure. The language of instruction, the teacher training traditions and the learning materials remain largely intact.

Despite a decade of free primary education in Malawi, the number of girls dropping out of school continues to outstrip that of boys, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a new report. "The main problem is that the free primary education policy does not translate into action on the ground. Making tuition free for pupils was not sufficient to take girls to school - there are other non-tuition costs, such as school materials, which parents have to pay," UNICEF's Head of Basic Education in Malawi Bernard Gatawa told IRIN.