University of Malawi

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Miss. Esme Chipo Kadzamira

RESEARCH FELLOW
Center for Educational Research and Training(CERT)

Research Areas

Access & equity, foundational learning, learning outcomes, data systems, determinants of school participation, gender and education, school effectiveness,,

Profile

Esme Kadzamira is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Educational Research and Training (CERT) at the University of Malawi – Chancellor College. With over 30 years of experience in education research, Esme has established herself as a leading voice in the fields of education policy, gender equity, and learning outcomes in Malawi and across Sub-Saharan Africa. She holds a Master’s degree in Educational Statistics and Psychology of Education from the University of London and a Bachelor of Social Science from the University of Malawi. Over the course of her career, Esme has worked on a wide range of research and evaluation projects that explore the barriers and opportunities to achieving equitable, high-quality education for all. Esme’s work spans topics such as girls’ education, school effectiveness, HIV/AIDS and its impact on schooling, and more recently, the effects of COVID-19 on learning. She has contributed to several major multi-country research collaborations and has worked closely with international partners to influence education policy and practice at both national and regional levels. She brings extensive experience in monitoring and evaluation, with a strong foundation in quantitative research methods and gender analysis. In addition to her role at CERT, Esme has since 2021 served as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), where she collaborates on research aimed at strengthening the use of administrative data for education policy, assessing learning impacts of national programmes, and improving measurement of school-based violence against children. Her recent projects include randomised evaluations of Malawi’s home-grown school meals programme (TSOLATA), the National Mathematics Reform Programme, and the Building Education Foundations through Innovation and Technology (BEFIT) initiative. She is also part of the Unlocking Data Initiative, which aims to expand the use and accessibility of education data in Malawi to inform decision-making and drive system improvement. Esme’s research has been published in academic journals, research reports, and policy papers. Through her work, she continues to advocate for evidence-based reforms that promote equity, efficiency, and improved learning outcomes in education systems

Publications