No jobs for University of Malawi laboratory graduates

A team of medical laboratory sciences graduates from the University of Malawi (Unima) are facing dire unemployment hurdles, with some still gallivanting in the streets eleven months after getting their honours degrees.

Nyasa Times has established that the Ministry of Health (MoH) has no posts for the graduates at a time when countries world over are embracing evidence based medicine.

Spokesperson for the ministry Henry Chimbali could not immediately comment but an impeccable source within the Ministry described the matter as “disturbing” considering the fact there are only about 40 such graduates in the country.

Laboratory sciences graduates are some of the fewest the country. Last year only 13 graduated, Nyasa Times learnt.

“The posts are filled with underqualified personnel, and it is all mind-boggling,” said our source.

One of the disgruntled graduates said in an email that it was sad that government was not giving serious attention to the matter.

“It is like government is taking a reverse gear when the rest of the world is moving forward,” said Scotch Kauchibwe.

A letter to the MoH last year, and a number of pleas have not yielded results, Kauchibwe added.

Malawi has recently been ranked by World Band as the poorest of the poor countries in the world with disquieting unemployment rates.