The Catholic University of Malawi is a fast-growing institution of higher learning accredited by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to offer Degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates. It was established by the Episcopal Conference of Malawi on October 16, 2004, and officially opened its doors in 2006. The university has seven faculties, namely

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

and,

Nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

and

Midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many ...

. The Catholic Church has been involved in education in Malawi for over a hundred years. Its first school was established on 2 February 1902 at Nzama in

Ntcheu District Ntcheu is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. It borders with the country of Mozambique. The district headquarters is Ntcheu, known as BOMA in the local language, but is most commonly called Mphate. It is run by Yeneya, the village headm ...

by three Montfort Missionaries: Fr. Pierre Bourget SMM (Superior), Fr. Augustine Prezeau SMM (who later became the first Apostolic Prefect of Shire) and Fr. Anton Winnen SMM, in charge of the first Catholic primary school in the country which he used to call ‘The University of Nzama’. The ‘University’ started with eight students – men, women, and children aged between six and sixty years. In spite of so many setbacks, by the late 1950s, the Catholic Church ran 1249 of the 2884 primary schools in Nyasaland (Malawi), and of the 24 grant-aided secondary schools and teacher training colleges, 13 were run by the Catholic Church. Just as the Church's achievements at primary school level necessitated the establishment of Catholic secondary schools in the fifties, its achievements at the secondary school level called for the establishment of a Catholic University. It is against this background that on 15 September 2004, the Bishops sent the chairperson for Education to meet the then Minister of Education to, among other things, alert him about the Episcopal Conference of Malawi's intention to request the FIC Brothers to turn Montfort Teachers Training College into a Catholic University. The then Minister of Education, Hon. Yusuf Mwawa, warmly welcomed the idea. In addition, he asked the then Principal Secretary for Education (Dr S.A. Hau) to arrange that one or two officers be included in the taskforce of the Catholic University to assist in the establishment of the university. This was indeed done and a number of task force meetings were attended by a representative of the Principal Secretary. In partnership with the Malawi Government, through the Ministry of Education, on 28 October 2006, the State President, late professor

Bingu wa Mutharika Bingu wa Mutharika (; born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; 24 February 1934 – 5 April 2012) was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death in April 2012. He was also President of the Demo ...

officially opened The Catholic University of Malawi. Since then, student enrolment has steadily increased from 129 to 4000 plus students by 2020. The university was accredited in January 2009. In seven years of its existence, CUNIMA has officiated nineteen graduations. The university is into an

affiliation Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platf ...

agreement with the Inter Congregational Institute (ICI), and affiliation with other institutions of higher learning namely, Kachebere and St Peter's Major Seminaries.

References

External links

* 2004 establishments in Malawi Buildings and structures in Southern Region, Malawi Catholic Church in Malawi Catholic universities and colleges in Africa Universities and colleges established in 2004 Universities in Malawi {{Malawi-university-stub