Govt sets May 4 for commencement of University of Malawi delinking
Government says it has set May 4 for the full commencement of the delinking of the University of Malawi and acting secretary for Education Raphael Agabu said the Ministry of Education has gazetted the date.
The government, under Acts of Parliament Nos 18, 19 and 20 of 2019, is unbundling the University of Malawi into College of Medicine, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), and Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS).
This follows the position of the Malawi Government to proceed with delinking of the University of Malawi colleges into stand-alone universities, communicated at a meeting held in Lilongwe on February 18, 2021, chaired by the Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima, and attended by the University of Malawi Council, as well as officials from the Ministry of Education, the Department of Statutory Corporations and the Public Sector Reforms Directorate.
Agabu said to ensure smooth transition, the Ministry of Education has established a Transition Unit (TU) to oversee and conclude all transitional activities and issues that may arise during the de-linking process by 31st December 2021.
“The TU is composed of a Steering Committee comprising the following members: Professor Emmanuel Kaunda (Chairperson), Associate Professor Asyatu Lorraine Chiweza, Dr. Phillip Kaonda, Dr. Tasokwa Kakota-Chibowa, Dr. MacPhail Magwira, as well as the Director of Higher Education; and a Secretariat composed of a lean staff from UNIMA central office headed by the current University of Malawi Registrar, Dr. B.W. Malunga as a TU Coordinator,” he said.
He said the Transition Unit started its work on April 15, 2021 and has since met with Management teams from all the four UNIMA colleges; and will from April 27 until May 4, 2021 be conducting press briefings and meetings with stakeholders including the current UNIMA Council, staff unions/welfare committees leadership, as well as student unions leadership from all the UNIMA colleges; the Parents Association of UNIMA students (virtual meeting), the National Council for Higher Education, and the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board.
He said from May 4 to December 31, 2021, the Transition Unit will be working with the Ministry of Education and Councils of the three universities to ensure that all requirements for an optimal transition take place as outlined in the 2018 Report by the Taskforce on Delinking of UNIMA Constituent Colleges.
Following this development, he said, selection of students into public universities will from this year include the new universities.
Therefore, he said applicants are advised to check and familiarize themselves with the new codes for courses under the Polytechnic (now MUBAS), College of Medicine and Kamuzu College of Nursing (now KUHeS) that the universities will soon produce during the forthcoming universities selection process harmonised by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).
Leave University of Malawi as intact as the way Dr. Kamuzu Banda intended it to be. Delinking Unima is a shameful idea before the Ngwazi. It shows that we are a nation that delights in destroying what others have built. University of Malawi is one of the iconic and monumental infrastructures that late Ngwazi Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda left. As a nation we need to preserve and develop these structures and not splitting them. It is shameful to think that by delinking unima then we are increasing number of tertiary education institutions in Malawi without constructing new ones. Unima is… Read more »
Good maganizo 💪🏿🇲🇼