Chakwera says better education for all in Malawi, end quota system
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Rev Dr Lazarus Chakwera has welcomed the desire by the Peter Mutharika administration to increase the number of universities as a positive step in ending the controversial education quota system.
Chakwera, who attended the graduation at Mzuzu University as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, said in an interview after President Prof. Peter Mutharika disclosed that the next university to build in the country will be Member in Mzimba.
Mutharika said his government has planned to construct more universities and colleges to eliminate inequalities in access to high education.
Chakwera welcomed the move, saying “it is a very important step in the journey to provide better education for everyone.”
The MCP leader said the solution was to introduce systems that would be policy driven, practical and with political will while increasing access to tertiary education to all not just a selected few.
Chakwera noted that uneducated nation is a paralysed nation.
In his speech at the Mzuzu University graduation, Mutharika called for innovative ways of financing the universities by attracting more resources from outside the country and finding additional resources within the country through public funds, fees and finances from private sector.
Mutharika said his government has already approved a loan from the World Bank for a Skills Development Project that will benefit University of Malawi, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Mzuni.
He said Mzuni will get $8million over four years to increase access, quality and relevance to students in its Tourism and Hospitality faculty and its Open and Distance Learning programmes.
