Unima graduates 1 440, eyes international recognition

University of Malawi (Unima) vice-chancellor Professor Samson Sajidu has said the institution in compliance with the Malawi 2063 agenda of building human capacity, has structured various initiatives to achieve international recognition.

He said this yesterday in Zomba during the graduation of 1 440 students who have completed their studies at the public university.

Sajidu said to achieve the mission, the university intends to increase students’ enrolment from the current 8 000 to 15 000 by 2026.

He said: “The delivery of lessons will be in different mediums inclusive of face to face, e-learning and distance education to build human capacity to those students that are qualified to attain university education.”

The vice-chancellor added that the university also eyes to increase international students’ enrolment, saying currently it has less than one percent.

Sajidu also wants to increase international students intake to 10 percent by 2026.

“The university also targets to increase investing in research as it is crucial in informing and developing policies that are crucial for national development,” he said.

The vice-chancellor has since called on the graduates to embrace entrepreneurship instead of waiting and hunting for employment.

“This graduation is their beginning for them to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country, hence, they need to utilise every opportunity that may arise in their lives,” he said.

Speaking during the ceremony, Unima Council chairperson George Patridge said the university is undergoing restructuring due to the delinking of public universities.

He said: “For this to materialise the university needs support as at the moment there is a deficit to attain the projected plans.”

Representing the graduands, Gloria Mickness Kamanga, who graduated with a bachelor of business administration from The Polytechnic, a former Unima constituent college now a standalone Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas), challenged her fellow females to prove doubters wrong by being achievers.

She said female students face a lot of challenges but they must remain steadfast.

“During my tenure on campus I almost withdrew due to lack of school fees but I did not lose my dignity until I got the scholarship and today I have successfully attained the degree,” Kamanga said.

Unima is one of the country’s six functional public universities. It was unbundled into three independent universities others being Mubas and Kamuzu University of Health Sciences.

The other public universities are Mzuzu University, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Malawi University of Science and Technology.