Dr. Annie Tamara Chizengo is a notable figure in the field of education. She has contributed significantly to research and practice, particularly in the context of distance education. Dr. Annie Tamara holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education with a bias in distance education from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She also holds a Master of Arts degree and a Postgraduate diploma in Distance Education from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India, a bachelor’s degree in education (Business Studies) from the University of Malawi, the Polytechnic, a Diploma in Education (Human Ecology) form Demasi College of Education and a Certificate in Education from Lilongwe Teachers’ College in Malawi.
Annie’s doctorate work focused on understanding the learning implications of distance education organisation and enhancing student support services. As the Chief Education Officer for Salima, Phalombe and Zomba Urban District Councils, she played a crucial role in shaping educational policies and initiatives. She is currently the Head of Open, Distance and electronic Learning (ODeL) at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) and Change Champion for Transforming Higher Education Systems Grand Challenge 1.3: Increasing online access and a Focal Person for Commonwealth of Learning MUBAS-COL project and a Reviewer for National Council for Higher Education on institutions accreditation and registration.

Dr Annie is experienced in education quality assurance, distance education in general including Staff Development, institutional organisation, Student Support, Self-Instructional Materials design and development, radio script writing, teacher training, curriculum development, education management and research. She is passionate about “Touching Hearts “of vulnerable groups of the population and thus, interacts more with the youths especially girls through support to their education, role modelling and inspirational talks. She engages the community in education related developments while working fervently with development partners whose target leans towards uplifting lives of the vulnerable groups (girls, women, the elderly and the ultra-poor). She is the founder of the Association of Malawian Women with Doctorates (AMWD), a Trustee to the Social Advocacy for Development Network (SADN), Malawi Union of Academic and Non-fiction Authors (MUANA) member, a seasonal consultant and was from 2020 to 2023, chairperson of Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) in Salima, Phalombe and Zomba districts.

Dr Annie is currently leading an innovation project that will develop high quality online functional local ODeL centres in various parts of the country, Malawi for students’ learning and support through study circles beginning with Msalura satellite Centre in Salima district. This will lead to Increased access to higher education for vulnerable and marginalised groups that includes adolescent girls and young women, those with disabilities, students from rural areas and Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS), the poor and ultra-poor backgrounds through an innovative and inclusive ODeL programming.