Teveta denies being unaudited
The Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (Teveta) has dismissed claims meted out in Parliament last week that the institution’s levy contributed by employers has not been audited.
According to Teveta, the institution’s accounts are audited every year by certified public accountants and business advisors, KPMG, in the provision of the Tevet Act.
Teveta senior public relations officer Lewis Msasa has reacted to last week’s call by Lilongwe City Centre Member of Parliament (MP) for David Bisnowaty that an audit of Teveta be conducted before Parliament approves a loan amounting to $50 million (about K20 billion) from the International Development Association (IDA).
The Loan Authorisation Bill, currently rejected by MPs, was expected to go towards increasing access to higher education in some public colleges.
The loan was meant to support the designing of high quality and relevant education programmes which would be delivered through open and distance learning (ODL).
“Our accounts are audited every year by certified public accountants and business advisors, KPMG in the provision of the Tevet Act and our reports have always been clean,” said Msasa yesterday.
He said in the financial year 2012/13 Teveta collected a sum of K1.8 billion which was used in the implementation of various programs across the country.
Specifically, Msasa said some of the programmes it implemented included apprenticeship programmes targeting a total of 943 apprentices into various technical colleges, providing training subsidies to private colleges that also provide training to apprentices, implementation of the Informal Sector Programme, and facilitation of Private/Public Sector Training Programmes in order to fill skills gaps, benefiting 598 employees.
“Some funds are also channeled towards curriculum development for various trades, equipping technical colleges and registration and inspection of Tevet providers,” added Msasa.
Msasa also said Teveta continues to implement its activities in line with a five year Strategic Plan which is formulated through thorough consultations with stakeholders from both private and public sector in order to respond to their needs.
In his claim in Parliament, Bisnowaty said Teveta was already a self-funded institution which benefits from a levy contributed by employers.
Said the legislator: “I wonder why they need further loans when they collect money from corporations and companies. As far as I have been observing, besides buying buildings and fancy cars and paying high salaries, I don’t see much activities of Teveta.”
Teveta is a regulatory body established in 1999 by an Act of Parliament to coordinate and facilitate technical and vocation training in Malawi.
The institution runs its programmes on Tevet Levy paid by both the public and private sectors.
The levy is one percent of the total basic annual emoluments paid by an employer to an employee as stipulated in the Tevet Act.
I think our Honorable MP showed some ignorance on how TEVETA works. If this was a way of asking for a workshop to understand TEVETA operations, he would have sought a better way. Having such a platform and misuse it to peddle lies wont help this country. I have visited TEVETA projects in the most rural areas of the country and appreciated how such programs are helping change some peoples fortunes. So its very unfortunate that an MP, in whose constituency TEVETA offices are, could pronounce such unsubstantiated statements all for the sake of taking the floor in parliament. I hope next time he will do his homework. I guess its also high time our legislators had researchers to help them speak intelligently when on the floor.