The reform, which is supported by Muslims and has been stopped by protests on the part of Christian churches, would abolish the subject Bible Knowledge and replace it with Religious and Moral Education which includes teaching the Koran and Traditional African Religions.

This reform, sources said, connected with other facts, would appear clearly to be steps in a plan to “Islamize” the country: Last December, the Muslim Eid feast was made a national holiday and recently the school calendar was adapted to Muslim culture. Pressure from Muslim donor countries—Libya and Saudi Arabia—was apparently behind the changes.

The reform, which has been suspended for the moment, would take effect in all schools, state run and grant-aided (run mainly by the Catholic Church and a few other Christian denominations). This would mean Catholic schools would have to include in the curriculum the study of the Koran and Traditional African Religions and employ teachers to give the lessons.

The Catholic bishops sent a memorandum of protest against the reform to the Minster of Education also denouncing the unilateral procedure to adopt it. In fact the Muslim Association of Malawi, unlike other religious associations, was able to follow the development of the reform from the start.

After the Church’s protest President Bakili Muluzi withdrew the reform and set up a National Consultative Committee composed of the ministry and the denominations involved: the Catholic Church, the Malawi Council of Churches, the Muslim Association of Malawi, Seventh Day Adventists, and African Traditional Religions.