ABSTRACT
The policy of affirmative action towards equitable access to higher education has been documented in multiple scholarly works. In a democracy, higher education is expected to ensure that interests of all social classes in societies are represented. In Malawi, the policy, coined as the “Quota System” in which students are selected to public universities based on their district of origin, remains a highly contested political issue during electioneering since the country attained democracy in 1993. This chapter investigates the rhetoric around the “Quota System” debate through face to face interviews with college students from the University of Malawi to ascertain their constructions of affirmative action within the context of democracy. This chapter finds that while the “quota system” is aimed at addressing disparities in the access to higher education in Malawi's public universities, the rhetoric of regionalism and tribalism is more pronounced among critics of the affirmative action policy which is unhealthy for an emerging African democracy.
