Government is set to hold a conference to discuss the way forward on the equity system of selecting students into public institutions of higher learning commonly referred to as quota system.

Introduced in 2008, quota system has faced firm opposition from a section of Malawians.

The development follows the unbundling of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) to create independent universities namely the University of Malawi, the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences and the Malawi University of Health Sciences.

Minister of Education, Science and Technology William Banda said there is a lot of misconception about quota system and that government needs to meet and discuss the issue thoroughly.

“The issue of quarter system is to do with equity access to education, equity means that you must also look at the conditions in which individuals (students) are selected to public universities,” Banda told YFM after presenting an update on the progress of the delinking in Parliament.

He said the system aims at addressing the education gap that exists between students who are from well-established secondary schools and those from Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS).

“You know in Malawi we have secondary schools that are at different levels in terms of resourcing, we have Community Day Secondary Schools most of them do not have laboratories and we have secondary schools that have almost everything that you need for you to study,” emphasized Banda.

Meanwhile government has expressed delight that the unbundling of the public universities will enhance growth as there will be an increased intake of students into public universities.