German Embassy grants K4m to Jacaranda Foundation
German Ambassador Peter Woeste on Friday granted K4 million ($8000) for the development of Jacaranda Vocational and Technical School in Blantyre.
Luc Deschamps, executive director of Jacaranda Foundation, said the Jacaranda Vocational and Technical School will create opportunities for students to access technical education and learn different skills.
Said Deschamps: “Our partners and friends helped us to buy a compound which has seven houses and our goal is to turn these houses into workshops where students can learn vocational skills under the direct supervision of professionals. The learners will thus become apprentices.”
He said the German Embassy grant will help them transform a large house into the Jacaranda vocational media school, where students will learn photography, video editing and sound recording.
Said Deschamps: “Students will produce their own television and radio shows that will be aired on partner television and radio stations. After graduation, students will be qualified enough to find employment in Malawi.”
Woeste said the embassy provided the grant because they are confident the money will be used for the intended purpose and develop media vocational training to enhance freedom of the press in Malawi.
He said: “When you walk around here, you will see that this money is really in safe hands and that it will be used for the intended purpose and it will be a major step forward in combining academic and vocational training.
“Malawi has very good reputation in terms of freedom of the press as it is among the top 10 countries in Africa, but when you look at the daily news papers and television programmes, there is still room for improvement. And that is why we thought of investing in something that you are already good at to ensure improvement.”
