The Department of Research, Planning and Policy studies (DRePPS) is a cross cutting Department that supports other departments in research and evaluation related activities at MIE. The Department therefore takes lead in all research and evaluation related activities. The research activities are guided by the Institute’s research and consultancy policy and the research agenda to ensure that all research related activities are conducted in a professional manner.
DRePPS has the following three functions:
- Provision of research services;
- Collection and preservation of historical education material
- Provision of planning, monitoring and evaluation services.
To ably carry out the three functions, the department has three divisions as seen in the following figure.
Divisions in the Department of Research, Planning and Policy studies.
The functions of each of each of the three divisions are as follows:
Research and policy development division
- Coordinating and conducting and curriculum and education research
- Provision of curriculum Research Consultancy services
- Production and marketing of curriculum/education related journals and periodicals
- The provision of education/curriculum research trainings
Museum of Education Division
- The collection of education materials
- The preservation of historical education materials
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division
- The facilitation and coordination of organisational planning and programming
- The coordination of development of resource mobilisation strategy
- The provision of monitoring and evaluation services
The Department conducts high quality research on issues affecting the teaching and learning in schools and colleges with a view to providing the basis for formulating policies that facilitate the improvement of the quality of education in Malawi. The Department also evaluates educational programmes and curriculum materials in order to ensure that they are appropriate for the needs of target groups in particular and for the nation as a whole. The department also carries out research and consultancies for other education stakeholders. The department has a team of professionals who are well qualified and experienced in the field of educational research, evaluation and policy studies.