This chapter examines the initiation of boys and girls in Chewa societies in the Central Region of Malawi. It results from an analysis of available literature and older scholarly data. The initiation ceremonies among the Chewa, usually done through Nyau masquerades, are conducted in an environment of rampant beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery, and in ritual fortification as a means of protecting the initiates from attack by evil people. By contrast, Christian missionary societies conducted similar ceremonies, but without recourse to fortification or witchcraft beliefs. The chapter raises the question of the relevance of these practices and underlying beliefs today. It argues that the Nyau exists as a means for the initiation ceremonies of boys and girls because it has become a source of income for chiefs, leaders of dambwe, leaders of liunde and leaders of girls’ initiation ceremonies (Namkungwi). This is because the initiation ceremonies are less beneficial for the initiated than for these leaders since the time available for initiating boys and girls is insufficient for them to achieve the purposes of initiation. I therefore argue that until these stakeholders of the initiation of boys and girls find alternative means of making money, they are unlikely to hand over this instructional aspect to the official guarantors of education like the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.