Kandodo says ‘harmonise assessment methods in technical colleges’

Minister of Labour Ken Kandodo has emphasised the need for harmonising assessment and examining of students in all technical colleges for the country to develop skilled labour force.

Kandodo said this on Friday in Lilongwe during the official closing of a capacity building workshop of TEVET assessors and examiners.

He said the country could only produce adequate and relevant workforce if assessment standards are uniform in all institutions, so that students can equally compete for employment and deliver the same quality of work.

“Examinations and assessment given to students should be uniform regardless of where the students are learning, be it in community colleges, skills development centres and national technical colleges,” he said.

Kandodo said government has attached great interest in skills development, more especially as the country is exploring ways to create one million jobs.

“In whatever sector of the economy, be it in transport, construction and mining, there is need for skilled personnel to come up with innovations that can be implemented and in turn drive the economy to its highest levels,” he said.

The minister, however, mentioned that if the TEVET system is not vibrant, all developmental interventions which government is initiating may not be realised.

The workshop was organised with funds from European Union through Skills for Technical Education Program.

On his part, Executive Director for TEVET Wilson Makulumiza Nkhoma said one of the thematic areas of TEVET is to provide quality and relevance.

He said the institution strives to provide training institutions the curriculum that responds to the needs of the industry.

“It is my hope that this training has provided necessary skills that will enable examiners to produce or formulate credible examinations which will effectively assess competencies needed by industries,” he said.

Nkhoma said with the expansion of TEVET institutions, there has been need for such a workshop that would ensure examiners are up-to-date with arising issues in as far as examination formulation is concerned so that there is uniformity of assessment and examination delivery.

At the workshop, 27 assessors and examiners from Central and Northern region TEVET institutions were trained.

The workshop took place at the same time with that of the Southern Region’s where 32 assessors and examiners were also trained.

Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) provided expertise to TEVET Examiners and Assessors in examination development.

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