SOCIOLOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS - Centre for Language Studies

% Respondents
Sex
Yes No Yes No
Male 40.4 8.6 38.3 10.7
Female 34.2 15.4 30.9 18.7
Thus from Table 67, 40.4% of the male parents/guardians could read Chitumbuka and
38.3% could write on the one hand, while on the other hand 34.2% of the female
parents/guardians could read and 30.9% could write. This correlation could be explained
by the fact that traditionally in Malawi female and male children have not been given
equal educational opportunities. The male child has always been favoured, hence the
rather high level of literacy among the male guardians. It is hoped that with the
introduction of free primary school education and positive discrimination in favour of the
girl child, literacy between males and females wil be the same.
The survey also sought to find out whether there is a correlation between
parents/guardians wanting their children to be taught in Chitumbuka and the age of the
respondents. The following correlations were obtained:
Table 68:
Liking Children To Be Taught In Chitumbuka Vs Age
Age % Respondents
Yes
15­19 3.3 2.3
20­24 15.1 5.8
25­29 11.9 4.2
30­34 10.2 3.3
35­39 8.3 3.0
40­44 3.8 1.8
45­49 4.8 0.4
50­54 3.5 0.7
55­59 3.0
60­64 5.0 0.4
65­69 0.6 0.4
71 above 1.5 0.6
No
68