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Civil society organizations including the CSCQBE have emerged at a time the education sector in Malawi is facing a lot of challenges since the introduction of Free Primary Education in 1994. The challenges include shortage of well qualified teachers, teaching and learning materials, classrooms, and teachers’ houses, low salaries of teachers, poor maintenance of infrastructures, and lack of adequate community support to school governance, among others. This is leading to absenteeism, high dropout, and in general poor quality of education.

Against this background government had developed several policies and strategies, all of which call for active participation of different stakeholders including civil society in policy implementation. Civil society has an additional role of holding government accountable in the delivery of basic services and resources allocated to education sector in the Government budget. This will provide the checks and balances government solemnly requires for transparent, effective and efficient sustainable pro poor programme implementation

Since its establishment in 2000, the Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education with support from its donors such as DFID, CEF, OXFAM, NDI, and Ireland Aid, largely provides technical and moral support to the government of Malawi in its Education and poverty reduction programmes. This is done through the participation of its staff and membership in different government and civil society decision making forums. The Civil Society members contribute to development and implementation, monitoring and review of major policies, strategies, budgets, and plans of the government in the Basic Education sector. These include the Education sector Plan, the Education Act, the Education Budget, the Policy and Investment Framework, the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Malawi Education for All Plan.

In its advocacy programmes, the Civil Society Coalition facilitates capacity building and training of civil society organizations, and sensitizes and mobilizes local grassroots structures such as parents’ teacher associations and school management committees and communities in order to effectively contribute towards implementation of education plans at national, regional, district and area levels.

Some members of the CSCQBE are also involved in service delivery in areas of school construction, training of teachers and provision of materials for teaching and learning. This is evidenced by the outpouring of private schools, church schools, colleges and universities as well as vocational and technical centers.

Formed in July 2000, Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE) is a Coalition of CSOs working in the basic education sector. The Coalition’s mission is to contribute towards measurable change in the quality of basic education for all by 2015 through supporting and influencing the implementation of government policy. The Coalition has a membership of 67 CSOs and 11 District Networks in Mzimba South, Ntchisi, Lilongwe, Dowa, Ntcheu, Blantyre, Zomba, Phalombe, Chikwawa, Nsanje and Mangochi. The Coalition has a number of administrative and technical structures like an Executive Committee, Finance and Administration Committee, and six technical sub committees, viz- the Budget Monitoring, Research, advocacy, Community mobilisation and Sensitisation, Education for All (EFA), Editorial and fundraising sub committees. The Coalition has a Secretariat that is based in Lilongwe, the Capital City of Malawi. The Secretariat has six members of staff. These are: the Coalition Coordinator, the Assistant Coordinator, the Finance and Administration Officer, the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation officer, a Secretary and a driver.