Market Malawi, govt asks Iveta delegates

Malawi Government has applauded the International and Vocational Education and Training Association (Iveta) for hosting its 2012 conference in Malawi, saying the gesture has helped to put Malawi on the map.

Principal secretary in the Ministry of Labour Wezi Kayira said Malawi is not known worldwide because it is a small country.

The conference, which was held in Mangochi, drew together over 200 delegates from 17 countries within the Iveta regions.

The meeting was held to discuss issues bordering on human resource development and poverty eradication.

“May I, therefore, request all distinguished participants to continue marketing Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa in your respective countries when you go back home,” said Kayira when he closed the conference on Friday.

On Thursday, the delegates went on an excursion on the Birds Island on Lake Malawi while others visited the Mangochi Museum and Mpale Cultural Village.

The conference was held under the theme of Human Resource Development for Poverty Eradication.

On the conference, Malawi like many other developing economies needs to learn and adopt good developmental practices and policies from developed countries “if we are to graduate from developing to developed countries.”

“In least developed countries, more effective technical and vocational education and training (Tvet) skills are especially needed to cope with the demands of the informal sector. Tvet plays an essential role in promoting socio-economic development of countries with benefits for individuals, their families, local communities and society in general. Tvet for the world of work also helps to promote good citizenship.

“Education and training for the world of work helps improve incomes of poverty-stricken farmers; it provides citizens with more choices in their lives, thus combating poverty, and empowering individuals who would otherwise be marginalised,” said Kayira.

During the conference, it was revealed that at least 80 percent of secondary school graduates in the country go back to the villages every year as they can neither find jobs nor employ themselves.

The development is attributed to the acute human resource wastage in our current education and training systems, said Dr. Patrick Molutsi, executive secretary, Tertiary Education Council, Botswana.

Meanwhile, Teveta executive director Yusuf Alide has said Malawi is faced with skills gaps at various levels the most being at the technician because the University of Malawi phased out the diploma level and introduced more degrees.

The development, according to Alide, raises fears that Malawi may end up producing too many thinkers, and very few with hands on skills, in contravention of recommended output ratios, and consequently creating graduate unemployment.

He said according to the World Bank Country Report of 2009, Malawi has the lowest rate of Tevet training in the Sadc of 35 per 100 000inhabitants as compared to more than 100 for most Sadc countries.