The MOU signing ceremony took place at the University’s main campus in Blantyre, and it seeks to provide training and professional development opportunities for Malawians and create flexible learning pathways for students studying in technical and vocational colleges across the country.

Principal Secretary for Labour, Chikondano Mussa, who signed the agreement on behalf of her ministry, said the MOU will create a formal working relationship between the three institutions and will ensure alignment in the development of human capital.

Mussa challenged universities to create pathways for admission into their academic programmes to make tertiary education accessible for all people in the country.

“In addition to the standard selection process managed by the National Council for Higher Education, which requires a minimum of six credits, we also need to create pathways for candidates who may not meet these credit requirements but possess relevant prior learning and experience in their areas of interest”, Mussa said.

She emphasised that the country needs skilled human capital to achieve economic development.

“In Malawi, over nine million people are out of education, lack formal training, and remain unemployed. We must find innovative and sustainable ways of equipping this population with relevant skills that can enable them to secure formal employment or engage in meaningful self-employment”, she added. 

According to the MOU, MUBAS and TEVETA will also collaborate in research and innovation initiatives to address industry challenges and foster technological advancements. 

MUBAS Vice-Chancellor, Associate Professor Nancy Chitera, stated that to expand access to tertiary education, the University has developed a Prior Learning Policy which will enable more Malawians to obtain formal qualifications.

“We recognise that many Malawians possess valuable knowledge and skills despite not having gone through formal education, and we aim to support such individuals in obtaining formal qualifications to excel in their areas of specialisation”, she said.

The Board Chairperson, Pyoka Tembo, stated that under the MOU, TEVETA apprentices will now have the opportunity to advance their training up to Bachelor’s and Master’s degree levels.

Under the agreement, TEVETA and MUBAS will also collaborate in staff development through trainer of trainers programmes, refresher courses and resource mobilisation.