Govt to train technical college instructors
Deputy Minister of Labour Vera Kamtukule has said plans to introduce a college to train technical education instructors in the country are underway.
She said this on Thursday at Khwisa Community Technical College in Balaka where the European Union (EU) handed over two workshops and equipment to government through the Skills for Technical Education Programme.
Said Kamtukule: “Instructors in community technical colleges are not trained and many of them lack the technical-know-how in some of the modern equipment.
“This may compromise the quality of education students get.”
According to the deputy minister, Malawi is the only country in the region without a technical teachers college.
Kamtukule said the donation was timely as it was in line with government’s key priority areas in development.
“Government is championing three key things, namely wealth creation, food security and job creation for Malawi to achieve in the Malawi 2063 Agenda. So, skills development is one of the priorities,” she said.
The EU Ambassador Rune Skinnebach said human development was crucial for the country to achieve its goals.
He said: “We have been supporting the education sector as we are aware that human development is crucial for the country.
“You know without skills development, there will be no middle-income Malawians.”
One of the students studying tailoring and designing, Margaret Rodrick said the skills will help her earn money to support her family.
Balaka North legislator Tony Ngalande (Malawi Congress Party) said the college was a motivation to the youth in the area.
“In this area, 65 percent of the population consists of the youth and over 300 youths graduate from secondary school education every year, but only five percent make it to various universities, meaning the rest have nothing to do,” he said.
