Kamuzu Academy


Kamuzu Academy is a private boarding school in Malawi that was founded by, and named after, the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the former President of Malawi. It is described by its proponents as "The Eton of Africa".

History

Founded in November 1981 in Mtunthama, 150 kilometres north of Lilongwe the capital city of Malawi, the school initially had 300 pupils.
Whilst Kamuzu Banda was still in power, the school only accepted the three best students from every district, who had to write a separate examination from the Primary School Leaving Certificate. Everything from uniforms to bedding, shoes, socks, textbooks, lab equipment, paints and sports attire was free. This is not the case since the school changed into a private school.
In September 2015 the school had 546 pupils.

Facilities

The academic facilities comprise a library modelled on Washington’s Library of Congress, an auditorium, science labs, band, art, and home economics rooms, an outdoor amphitheatre and computer rooms.
The school's sports facilities include a 33-metre swimming-pool, a 10-hole golf course, a pavilion overlooking a running track and main sports field, tennis courts, squash courts, two further sports fields, as well as outdoor basketball and volleyball courts.

Curriculum

Latin and Greek are compulsory. Subjects include Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Design and Technology, Economics, English, Food and Nutrition, French, Geography, Greek, History, ICT, Latin, Law, Mandarin Chinese, Mathematics, Music, PE, and Physics.

Staff

As of September 2015, there were 46 staff, of whom 8 are from the United Kingdom, 2 from China, and 36 from the Republic of Malawi.
The Headmaster is Manchester-born Francis Cooke, MBE, who was appointed as a history teacher in 1982 and became the Headmaster in 1997.

Houses