Directorate of Quality Assurance is mandated to assure and control quality of education in Malawi. Hence, the Directorate provides information on quality and standards of education in Malawi. The Directorate has three main services:

a. Inspection

This is an independent external evaluation of the effectiveness of a school or college in bringing about positive outcomes for its students.

b. Advisory

Support function which constitutes a constant guidance on one or limited aspects of an educational institution life such as teaching, learning, leadership and management and is based on recommendations from school evaluation such as inspection or school performance review. Both functions execute their duties using National Education Standards (NES) in primary and secondary schools and Teacher Education Standards (TES) in Teacher Training colleges.

c. Licencing

Registering and licensing of private schools and colleges and registering of teachers.

The Directorate has officers at Ministry Headquarters, Education Divisions and District Assemblies.

The directorate's functions include:

• Inspection and Advisory Services to public and private schools and colleges
• Initiating and chairing the processes of development and revision of curriculum, teaching/learning materials or teaching and learning text books for schools and colleges
• Carrying out surveys and research in education system
• Providing In-service training to Quality Assurance officers and Teachers

All Ministry of Education Directorates, MANEB, MIE, Parents/guardians, Primary and secondary school teachers and Learners, Schools, College Students, Villages/communities, NGOs and Donor partners.

1. Inspection and Advisory Services to public and private schools and colleges
2. Curriculum and materials development and revision for schools and colleges
3. Carry out surveys/research
4. In-service training for Division and District Quality Assurance officers and Teachers
5. Registration of private schools and colleges
6. Registration of teachers

1. Community involvement in primary school management through sending and receiving messages – component 3.3 MESIP
2. Inspection and Monitoring – component 3 EQUALS
3. Accelerated learning: Remediation, Revision and Assessment COVID 19 Output GPE: component 5
4. Monitoring Learning Achievement (MLA) and Training and monitoring of CSE/LSE through Joint Programme for Girls Education (JPGE) – UNICEF/UNFPA & UNESCO
5. Inspection of public and private Teacher Training colleges and Technical Education - GIZ
6. Primary school inspection - LGAP
7. Continuous Assessment and Remediation (CA&R) and National Reading Assessment (NRA) under National Reading Programme (NRP) - through YESA, REFAM & IKI – USAID
8. AMAA (Apatseni Atsikana Mwayi Aphunzire) SAVE the children
9. Strengthening the teaching of primary school Mathematics in Malawi - Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
10. Syllabus Audit - UNESCO/AFIKEPO

World Bank, GIZ, UNICEF, SAVE the CHILDREN, UNFPA, USAID, GPE, LGAP and FCDO.

• Coordinates marking and selection of SADC secondary school Essay competition winners at SADC regional level
• Universal Postal Union letter writing competition funded by MACRA and other students national essay competitions that may arise from time to time
• MLA (Monitoring Learning Achievement) after every 3 years
• Inspection of an institution after every 3 years
• EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) Early Grade reading survey