Agnes Nyalonje is a

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

an politician who has served as the country's

Education Minister An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from July 2020. In 2023 she was the Minister of Labour. She offered her resignation and it was accepted by the President at the end of 2024.

Education

Nyalonje has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Social Science from the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whethe ...

, a postgraduate diploma in personal and development from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and a master's degree in literature from the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Career

Nyalonje was a lecturer in linguistics at the University of Edinburgh and at the University of Malawi. She worked as a consultant for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and as country director of

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS; , ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ex ...

from 2002 to 2004. She was also a technical adviser to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

in South Africa.

Political career

Nyalonje was elected as the MP for Mzimba North representing the People's Party in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. She joined the newly formed UTM Party in October 2018, saying she was seeking to "fight rampant corruption" and overthrow the ruling

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

. However, she withdrew from participating in the January 2019 primary elections. Nyalonje was appointed Minister of Education by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Lazarus Chakwera Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (born 5 April 1955) is a Malawian politician and theologian who has served as President of Malawi since June 2020. He has served as the leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013. He was president of the Malawi Asse ...

on 8 July 2020. She retained the position in a January 2022 reshuffle. On commencing the role, Nyalonje said her priority was to overhaul the country's "rotten and archaic"

education system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

, which has one of the lowest transition rates in the world, with only 6% of primary school students graduating to secondary school. Nyalonje oversaw the reopening of schools on 7 September 2020 after their closure in March that year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In February 2022, she launched a Code of Conduct for teachers that seeks to regulate professional conduct across the education sector. In June 2021, Nyalonje was sent out of Parliament for not wearing a

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution. They are common in primary school, primary and secondary schools in various countries and are generally widespread in Africa, Asia, O ...

as all other female members had done to mark the

Day of the African Child The International Day of the African Child, also known as the Day of the African Child (DAC), has been celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the OAU Organisation of African Unity. This day honors those who par ...

and advocate for

female education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

. In 2023 she was the Minister of Labour. She offered her resignation in July 2024 and it was accepted by President Chakwera at the end of 2024.

Personal life

Nyalonje is married to Robert Ridley, who is vice chancellor at Unicaf University Malawi.

References

External links

March 2022 interview with Nyalonje
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyalonje, Agnes Living people Women government ministers of Malawi Education ministers of Malawi People from Mzimba District Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Leeds University of Malawi alumni Academic staff of the University of Malawi People's Party (Malawi) politicians United Transformation Movement politicians Members of the National Assembly (Malawi) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Malawian women politicians 21st-century Malawian politicians