ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY TECHNICAL COLLEGES
A Community Technical College is a training institution which prepares students for a specific trade or career whose educational facilities are available to youth and other members of the community. The Malawi Government identified establishment of community technical colleges as a way of increasing access to Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training (TEVET) by out-of-school youth and adults who fail to make it to formal TEVET due to limited capacity and restrictive entry requirements. Community colleges have also been designed to support students still learning in secondary schools.
Background
In Malawi, unemployment is prevalent and the rural sector that is predominantly dependent on agriculture, harbors most of the unemployed. In rural sector, farming is seen to be the main activity due to lack of exposure to other productive activities by its population.
A large percentage of the rural population is migrating into towns and cities in search of jobs which unfortunately are very limited. The majority of the migrants have no employable skills that can enable them get the limited jobs on the labour market. As a result, most of them engage in social ills such as crime, drug abuse, prostitution and vandalism. To deal with these challenges, Government intends to establish community technical colleges in each district to offer productive knowledge and skills relevant to unemployed youth. The community colleges will assist their graduates to become self-employed, and also allow them to proceed towards attainment of higher qualifications. The project is expected to be finalized in 2022-2023 financial year.
Overall Goal
The overall goal of the project is to reduce the prevalence of unemployment among unskilled and unproductive youth.
Project Purpose
To increase access to technical and vocational training by establishing community technical colleges in 28 districts thereby contributing to sustainable economic development
Projects Outcomes
- Increased access to Technical and Vocational Training by the rural masses
- Enhanced employability among the youth
- Projects Outputs
- Community Colleges Rehabilitated
- Community Colleges Constructed
- Training tools and equipment procured
- Training Curricula developed
- Business Incubators developed
- Technical Teachers and staff recruited and trained
Project Beneficiaries
The project is targeting the rural youth to benefit from reduced cost of training. The project will also provide increased access to TEVET by rural women and people with disabilities who cannot access urban training centers. This will lead to enhanced skills base of rural communities which will be utilized by the communities in development projects and establishment of enterprises.
Community Technical Colleges Completed and under Construction
Through this project, 15 Community Technical Colleges have been completed and are operational, while 5 community technical colleges are under construction.
- Community Technical Colleges Completed and Operational
- Kasama Community Technical College in Chitipa
- Ngara Community Technical College in Karonga
- Ezondweni Community Technical College in Mzimba
- Mbandira Community Technical College in Nkhotakota
- Mponela Community Technical College in Dowa
- Kapondo Community Technical College in Mchinji
- Chongoni Community Technical College in Dedza
- Chilobwe Community Technical College in Blantyre
- Thumbwe Community Technical College in Chiradzulu
- Naminjiwa Community Technical College in Phalombe
- Mangochi Community Technical College in Mangochi
- Milonga Community Technical College in Thyolo
- Aida Chilembwe Community Technical College in Chiradzulu
- Khwisa Community Technical College in Balaka
- Salima Community Technical College in Salima
Community Technical Colleges under Construction
- Machinga Community Technical College
- Thyolo Community Technical College
- Nsoni Community Technical College in Chiradzulu
- Nkhotakota Community Technical College
- Nkhatabay Community Technical College
