Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (Teveta) has called for increased investment in technical skills development to create a highly-skilled and result-oriented workforce.
Teveta Southern Region Service Centre manager Conceptor Bamusi said this on Saturday in Balaka during a secondary schools science fair organised by Concerned Youth Organisation with support from the Scottish Government through Oxfam in Malawi.
She said both public and private sectors increasingly require technical expertise, making it important to change students’ mindset towards vocational training at an early stage.
Bamusi said many people still underestimate technical education despite its central role in everyday life and economic development.
“If we look at the entire scope of our economy, you will see Tevet everywhere because as human beings, we live Tevet, we sleep in Tevet and we eat Tevet,” she said.
Bamusi said the authority is also promoting the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) concepts in technical training to equip learners with practical skills needed in the labour market.
She encouraged girls to enrol in technical colleges, saying the authority has introduced scholarships targeting female students in hard-skill programmes.
One of the students from Utale Community Day Secondary School (CDSS), Tricia Gastona, commended Teveta and Concerned Youth Organisation, saying the science fair taught her how to make medicine using natural remedies and how to produce soap.
“I believe these skills will help me as I continue with my education,” she said.
Concerned Youth Organisation programmes manager Sekanawo Mwatibu said the event, organised under the Girls’ Initiative for Resilient Learning Project, has empowered students to develop science skills that can help address emerging challenges in agriculture, health and natural resources.
“We encourage girls to take up Stem subjects,” she said.
