"This brief examines the status of primary school TLMs in Malawi. It is based on interviews conducted with 22 Malawian educationalists, a review of international development education (IDE) project literature, and scholarly work on TLMs. It concludes that, particularly since the introduction of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 1994, processes of planning, developing, producing, distributing, assessing, and preparing teachers to effectively utilize TLMs in Malawi have shifted from centralized and government-controlled to project-based, fragmented, and driven by international funders. There is limited government control over educational goals and development expenditures; little opportunity for systemic analysis or reform; extensive, but fragmented, external involvement in decision-making; and, as a result, limited scope, availability, and utilization of TLMs that support equitable, high quality, and Malawi-centric educational experiences and outcomes." (Introduction, page 4)