Msaka tells Unesco conference Malawi continues to place emphasis on education

Minister of Education, Science and Technology Bright Msaka has told the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) General Conference in France that Malawi government  continues to place emphasis on the importance of education.

Msaka said that among other indicators that government is committed to improve education is the allocation of additional money towards the sector in 2017/18 National Budget where 18% has been allocated to education.

“This allocation is more than in any other single sector of Malawi’s economy,” Msaka said.

Malawi’s education minister further said that the adoption of National Strategy on Inclusive Education which will run from 2017 to 2021 is another response to challenges facing education sector in the country.

“The strategy is in line with the national education goals and objectives of promoting equity, access, quality, relevance, governance and management in education.

“Furthermore, our national strategy responds to the UN conventions and agreements to which Malawi is a party. More specifically, it is designed to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all, in line with the aims of SDG4,” he said.

Msaka also commended UNESCO for supporting Malawi in various sectors including education.

“It is pleasing to note that UNESCO has already taken concrete action in order to contribute to the attainment of the SDGs through its work in Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Science, Culture, Communication and Information,” he said.

On education, Msaka mentioned of Skills and Technical Programme (STEP) which is aimed at seeing youth equipped with vocational skills.