The Role of Primary Education in Preventing Radicalisation in Malawi

In the past decade, the northern provinces of Mozambique have experienced a surge in violent radicalisation, particularly in the Cabo Delgado area. Neighbouring Malawi in the same period has remained relatively unaffected by such extremism, despite sharing similar rural and socioeconomic conditions. This paper explores the role of Malawi's primary education system in mitigating the risk of radicalisation. Rather than focusing on a single teacher-training program, the broader impact of educational quality is analysed. It includes teacher availability, teacher professionalism, and school infrastructure. The research argues that although education alone cannot prevent violent extremism, improvements in teacher training and school resourcing play a crucial role in strengthening moral grounding through value-based education and ethical reasoning, enhancing social cohesion by fostering inclusion and civic engagement, and developing critical thinking skills that enable learners to question and resist extremist narratives and ideological manipulation. This study advocates for comprehensive educational reform as part of a broader counter-radicalisation strategy in sub-Saharan Africa.