Teveta courts private sector on partnerships
Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (Teveta) executive director Elwin Sichiola has urged the private sector to collaborate with the authority to train competent graduates in technical courses.
He said this on Friday in Blantyre when Teveta hosted the private sector for a breakfast meeting.
Sichiola said the private sector can collaborate with the authority by creating space for interns to learn practical skills to complement the knowledge-based components and the theory they learned in class, among others.
He said: “Actors in the private sector can also allow their staff to train in technical colleges. This gives the students an opportunity to learn industry-standard practices in a classroom environment.
“Companies can also allow Tevet trainers and tutors an opportunity to learn at their workshops. This will help the trainers to keep up to date with modern technologies. A mechanical engineer who graduated 10 years ago might not know modern technologies if they are restricted to the classroom.”
Speaking earlier, Teveta director of quality assurance, Elliot Mulanje, said the authority has launched a local professional qualification for Malawi.
He said: “Our partnerships with the private sector helped us develop this certificate. The industry defines what the students should learn and we provide the hands-on training required to meet those requirements.
“The graduates are certified according to internationally recognised standards and are ready to demonstrate skills, knowledge and attitudes.”
One of the private sector players, Plascon Paint human resources manager Memory Nyirongo said the graduates of the Malawi Tevet Certificate attached to her institution have shown skills, knowledge and attitudes required to complete the tasks set for them in a work environment.
Tevet Authority is a regulatory body established in 1999 by an Act of Parliament to regulate, promote and facilitate sustainable provision of quality technical, entrepreneurial and vocational education and training in Malawi.
Figures show that the informal sector in Malawi covers a number of economic activities in commerce, agriculture, construction, transportation and service provision and absorbs more than 80 percent of the labour force in both the rural and urban areas.
Tevet Authority strives to develop quality skills training to equip the youth and other disadvantaged groups with skills to enable them become employable.
