5 Bulgarian Journal of Science and Education Policy (BJSEP), Volume 4, Number 1, 2010 CHAOS-COMPLEXITY THEORY AND EDUCATION POLICY: LESSONS FROM MALAWI’S COMMUNITY DAY SECONDARY SCHOOLS Happy M. KAYUNI University of Malawi, Republic of Malawi Abstract. Since the democratic dispensation of 1994, the education sector seems to be in perpetual transition with numerous facets of policies be- ing introduced against a background of alleged poor management, under- staffing and a poorly paid cadre of teachers. The situation was at one time lik- ened “to a patient on a resuscitation bed in a hospital”. Despite this seemingly chaotic and complex scenario, the education system has managed to survive. Using the Malawi Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS) policy, the paper intends to draw some insights from public policy’s Chaos and Complex- ity theory to explain why the education sector still manages to survive and show resilience (on the “edge of chaos”) despite the apparent overwhelming challenges. Keywords: education policy; Malawi; Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS); chaos-complexity theory; participation