Faculty of Education and Media Studies

Contacts

01871637 dndenguma@poly.ac.mw

The three departments under the Faculty of Education and Media Studies are Language and Communication, Journalism, and Technical Education. In fact, the Department of Journalism evolved from the Department of Language and Communication and started offering a Bachelor of Journalism—the first of its kind in Malawi. As for the Department of Technical Education, the name is somewhat deceptive because it offers more than just technical education degrees. It also offers and Bachelor of Education Business degree and a University Certificate of Education. The Master’s in Vocational Education and the Master’s in Health and Behaviour Change Communication are the two postgraduate degrees offered under the faculty.

Academic Members of Staff

Besides teaching students in their own respective department, the academic members of staff in the faculty also teach students in other departments. Just as every student at the Polytechnic must learn how to write academically, they must also improve their numeracy skills. It is the dedicated members of staff in this faculty who teach the writing modules to students in other departments, and some of the mathematics and statistics courses are taught by staff in the Department of Technical Education. Not surprisingly, these members of staff teach many hours and grade many papers. Yet they still find time to conduct serious academic research and engage the wider community.

Centres

The Continuing Education Center (CEC) is officially under the faculty. Still, it offers programs that are taught by academic members of staff in the various other faculties at the Polytechnic. Students from various walks of life and academic backgrounds can enroll in these programs provided they meet the basic criteria required. Qualifying students may be awarded a diploma, which is the highest qualification awarded by the CEC. Further, the CEC offers students the opportunity of enrolling in programs that are facilitated by internationally recognized examination bodies, such as ABMA Education. Besides operating from the Polytechnic main campus and annex campus, it also operates in Lilongwe and is in the process of establishing a third campus in Mzuzu. On the other hand, the Raphael Tenthani Centre is based at Chichiri campus. It was established with the generous support of the British government in memory of Raphael Tenthani, an acclaimed print and electronic media journalist who was also a correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It is a centre for holding lectures, workshops and conferences and other such activities.