Limited disbursement of budget funds coupled with the withdrawal of donor support has restricted Malawi College of Health Sciences’ capacity to expand enrolment for its degree programmes, it has emerged.
A delegation from the institution informed the Education, Science and Technology Cluster Committee of Parliament on Tuesday that insufficient disbursement of funds from the 2024/25 National Budget, combined with the withdrawal of the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) support, has resulted in a funding gap that endangers the institution’s capacity for growth.
The college’s executive director Alice Kadango said they need resources to recruit specialist lecturers, maintain the institution’s infrastructure and acquire a new fleet of vehicles to replace the ageing ones.
“No funds have been allocated to complete the construction of classrooms and laboratories,” she said.
According to a copy of the presentation The Nation obtained, the college was allocated K500 million in the 2024/25 National Budget; however, none of these funds was disbursed as of January.
The institution has also been underfunded in other budgetary provisions, receiving K1.68 billion in government subventions from an allocated K2.2 billion.
Treasury officials present at the meeting indicated that the department had approved the disbursement of K100 million, which is yet to be remitted to the college.
The other K400 million was trimmed, during the Mid-Year Budget Review Meeting.
In an interview on the sidelines of the meeting, Kadango said the institution would require approximately K3.5 billion to acquire a new fleet of vehicles and recruit specialist lecturers for its degree programmes.
Education, Science and Technology Cluster Committee chairperson Brainax Kaise pledged to lobby the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs as well as the Ministry of Education, to explore budgetary manoeuvres that would facilitate the institution’s growth.
