Minister commends China for support

Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development Francis Kasaila has said government appreciates the support the Chinese government provides to the country.

The minister said this on Monday in Lilongwe during the signing ceremony of an agreement that will see China constructing five modern technical colleges in the country.

“As you may be aware that more than 70 percent of our population comprises the youth and, as such, our aim is to see a lot of youths graduating each year,” he said.

Kasaila said statistics show that every year about 150 000 students graduate from secondary schools but less than 10 percent are enrolled into tertiary educational institutions.

He said: “It is for this reason that government has put skills development as a priority to ensure that the youth acquire survival skills. For Malawi to develop economically, we need to have skilled labour.”

In his remarks, Chinese Ambassador Shi Ting Wang said manpower development holds the key to the country’s development.

“Malawi lacks high-standard technical colleges that can boost socio-economic development. The crucial fact is that youth unemployment is much higher than the country’s average level,” he said.

The five community technical colleges will be constructed in Ntcheu, Mulanje, Mzimba, Nsanje and Zomba districts.