Kamuzu Academy

Kamuzu Academy
Information
School typePrivate boarding school
Established1981 (1981)
FounderHastings Banda
GenderMixed
Websitewww.kamuzuacademy.com

Kamuzu Academy is a private boarding school in Kasungu, Malawi that was founded by, and named after, the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda, the former President of Malawi.[1] It is described by its proponents as "The Eton of Africa".[2]

History

Interior of library

The school was officially founded on 21 November 1981, although students had already been attending classes for a month at that point.[3]

In 1987, it was the subject of a BBC documentary entitled "The Eton of Africa" made by John Rae.[4]

The original intake selected two boys and one girl from each district in Malawi on the basis of academic merit, with no fees charged. The school changed to a fee-paying basis after President Kamuzu Banda was ousted from power in the election of 1994.[5]

An idiosyncratic feature of the school is that Latin and Greek were made compulsory subjects for all students from the beginning and are still taught today as core subjects. Kamuzu Banda is recorded as saying: "This place is for classical education, Greek, Latin, particularly Latin. I want that to be clearly understood by everybody. If you don't like Latin, don't come here."[6]

The 40th-anniversary Founder's Day service in November 2021 was attended by President Lazarus Chakwera.[7]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Think Africa Press - All African Issues".
  2. ↑ "The Eton of Africa". 25 November 2002.
  3. ↑ "Welcome | Kamuzu Academy - honor deo et patriae". www.kamuzuacademy.com. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
  4. ↑ First shown on BBC One on 9th Sep 1987 Archived 2024-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, repeated on BBC Two on 1st Dec 1988, as recorded in the Radio Times.
  5. ↑ Britten, Nick (26 December 2006). "The man who saved the Eton of Africa". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "The Eton of Africa" BBC documentary, minute 1:00.
  7. ↑ Nyasa Times 14/11/2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Chakwera tackles nation building as Kamuzu Academy commemorates founder's day". www.nyasatimes.com. 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
  9. ↑ Cowell, Alan; Times, Special To the New York (1983-07-04). "MALAWI'S ELITE ACADEMY: THE VERY MODEL OF ETON". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
  10. ↑ LinkedIn.
  11. ↑ LinkedIn.

13°01′50″S 33°41′11″E / 13.030455°S 33.686464°E / -13.030455; 33.686464