Malawi to partner UK university in talent development

Malawi and UK-based University of Gloucestershire are set to partner in sports training programmes which the university offers, Youth and Sports Minister Enoch Chihana has said.

 

The minister said he had a meeting with a consortium of university officials and Gloucestershire City Council officials on August 2 this year, where they agreed to draft a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

“I briefed them on government development plans for the youth and how we would work together to maximise the impact of their programmes. As a way forward, we agreed that the training should be based in Malawi for easy access,” said Chihana.

He said they also agreed that the university should establish an enterprise which they would hand over to Malawi after five years. The university also agreed to host Malawi team to prepare for the 2014 Commonwealth Games that will be held in Glasgow, Scotland from August 27 to September 8.

University of Gloucestershire conducts sports and youth training programmes involving several African countries, including Malawi. Chihana said there are some problems unique to Malawi which they discussed.

“Their training programmes include, IT, HIV and community issues in relation to sports. Their main challenge, they say, is that there is no accreditation of graduates in the course, so they want the Malawi government to consider facilitating that the course graduates should be awarded certificates after successful completion of the course,” said the minister.

Chihana said he has since assured the University of Gloucestershire that government will ensure that the graduates are accredited and that as many Malawians as possible benefit from the programme.