Rethinking Poverty and Education: an attempt by an education programme in Malawi to have an impact on poverty.

The Malawi Primary Community Schools Programme was conceived within the context of a new democracy, a changing policy environment and some of the worst social indicators in the world. It was developed through a consultative process on the tide of the introduction of free primary education. While the programme was part of a long-term social sector development programme which aimed to bring social and economic benefits to the population at large, the Community Schools Programme developed its own strategies designed to have an impact on poverty for a limited number of people in the short term. These are analysed in terms of impact on the poor and influence on other pro-poor policies and strategies. The authors conclude that it is possible for a programme in one sector to benefit the poor and to influence other programmes to be more pro-poor, but that this would be more effective as part of a broader multi-sector strategy. They also conclude that the reported impact was achieved through integration between the processes of construction, education and community participation, rarely mirrored in typical ministry settings, and that there would be value, both to Malawi and others, in documenting and analysing the dynamics and institutional issues which made this possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]