Lilongwe Technical College head in continental body

 Lilongwe Technical College principal Suzgika Mvalo has been elected as Malawi’s representative in the Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa (Atupa).

He was elected at Atupa’s 44th Annual Conference held at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe from September 29 to October 2 2022.

Mvalo was elected after successful ly ser ving two constitutional terms as a regional administrative representative for nine countries in Southern and Central Africa.

In an interview yesterday, he said he will represent Malawi on the Atupa executive board for the next two years.

Said Mvalo: “I am honoured that after successfully serving my two-year constitutional term as regional administrative representative. Atupa felt that I should still be in the executive board but this time round representing Malawi.”

He said his main role is to coordinate activities of the association concerning technical education and vocational training (Tevet) institutions in Malawi.

“I will help lobby for more member participation of Tevet institutions in Malawi at this continental body. I do believe that Tevet institutions in Malawi will benefit and will be impacted positively by actively participating in Atupa in various ways,” Mvalo said.

He said some of the benefits include benchmarking of curriculum and teaching facilities within Tevet, promotion of appropriate technology and innovation such as digitising of training material, as well as dissemination of information and publications that are of interest to member institutions.

The conference held under the theme ‘Repositioning Tevet education ecosystem in light of Covid-19 through heritage-based education’ brought together over 300 participants.

A m o n g o t h e r s , t h e conference discussed how Tevet could be strengthened through sustainable financing and resourcing and how the institutions could contribute towards mitigating climate change in Africa.

Formerly known as the Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics in Africa, Atupa was established in 1978, following a resolution at the 7th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers held in Ghana in March 1977.

Its role is to promote professional and s k i l l s development in Africa by providing a dynamic forum for generating, testing and sharing innovative ideas on technical and vocational education through conferences, workshops and publications.