Vision

Towards a culture of quality and excellence in higher education.

Mission

To champion quality, accessible and relevant higher education in Malaŵi.

Core values

As an institution, its core values are:

integrity,
transparency,
accountability,
efficiency,
team spirit,
service-centred.

Its mandates in line with the constituting legislation are:

1. to promote and coordinate education provided by higher education institutions;
2. to register and de-register higher education institutions;
3. to determine a framework for funding public higher education institutions;
4. to harmonise selection of students to all public universities;
5. to regulate, determine and maintain standards of teaching, examinations, academic qualifications, academic facilities;
6. to develop a national qualification framework which is compatible with regional and international standards;
7. to determine criteria and procedures for registration and de-registration of higher education institutions;
8. to accredit both public and private higher education institutions;
9. to design and recommend an institutional quality assurance system for higher education;
10. to recommend to the Minister institutional quality assurance standards for the establishment, standardisation and accreditation of higher education institutions including standards of:
    
    
    • teaching and learning,
    • infrastructure, physical plant and equipment,
    • the development of curricula,
    • libraries and learning resource centres,
    • safety of teaching and learning facilities, and
    • student-transfer between programmes and higher education institutions.
11. to provide guidance for terms and conditions for awarding grants and scholarships to students of public higher education institutions;
12. to ensure that higher education institutions have high calibre of members of staff by:
    
    
    • prescribing standards and maintaining minimum requirements for engagement of members of staff to all levels of higher education institutions;
    • advising on conditions of employment;
    • overseeing continuous professional development for members of staff of higher education institutions; and
    • from time to time, prescribing, maintaining and reviewing a code of conduct of professional ethics for members of staff of higher education institutions.
13. to assess, evaluate and recognise qualifications attained at a foreign higher education institution;
14. to represent interests of the Malawian higher education regionally and internationally;
15. to monitor the implementation of international agreements concerning higher education;
16. to promote international cooperation and facilitate exchanges of higher education; and
17. to advise the Minister on all matters of higher education.