President Lazarus Chakwera has said his administration is committed to ensuring that the country’s youths develop into responsible citizens that would propel the development of the country.
Chakwera was speaking in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Wednesday during a panel discussion at the inaugural Africa Human Capital Heads of State Summit.
He said, just like the whole of Africa, Malawi’s population is predominantly youthful, adding that, according to the 2018 Malawi Population and Housing Census, about 80 percent of the 17 million population is below 35 years.
Chakwera said his administration is, among other things, focusing on the central areas of education, skills development, science and technology, innovation, health and nutrition.
He said Malawi has completed reviewing the early child development curriculum and that the country is in the process of reviewing the education training curriculum for primary, secondary and tertiary levels to include 21st Century skills that meet the demands of the labour market.
The President added that his administration is also expanding technical colleges and 30 community colleges and skills development centres to increase access to skills development from 11,000 to 65,000 by 2026.
“We are also upgrading 400 community-based childcare centres. From 2018 to date, the increase to equitable access has moved from 46 percent to 49 percent and we are moving towards the target of 70 percent by 2030,” Chakwera said.
He added that the administration is also providing virtual science labs, open distance and e-learning in tertiary education institutions, which has resulted in access increase from 0.8 percent in 2021 to three percent.
The Malawi leader said the government wants the access rate to increase to 15 percent by 2030.
“In our effort to provide employable skills, we are implementing graduate internship programmes and over 14,000 graduates have benefited [from the initiative] since 2018.
“And, in addressing skills mismatch, we have established a Public-Private Sector Skills Dialogue Forum to enhance interactions between training institutions and the industry. And we have also started reviewing the National Job Creation Strategy to incorporate areas of high value chains such as macadamia, cassava, sugar and other areas which have potential for job creation,” Chakwera said.
The panel discussion was held under the theme ‘Africa’s Prosperity Depends on its Youthful Demographics. How Can Africa Utilise Its Young Population Fully to Achieve Agenda 2063?’
Chakwera, who left the country on Tuesday, is expected back home today.
