The fact that every year about 200,000 unskilled youths come into the labour market is disheartening.
This is so because in its current state, the country has very limited training institutions, to the effect that there is a high number of youths across all districts in dire need of skills development support.
Being a responsible authority, government has made many interventions to ensure that full utilisation of youths is achieved in its development drive by properly training them.
One such intervention is the Technical Entrepreneurial Vocational Education and Training Authority (Teveta).
Teveta has been in operation since July 1999 and it is mandated by an Act of Parliament to run demand driven training to all sectors in the country.
Two weeks ago, executives from the authority gathered at Chiringa in Phalombe where Teveta through one of its facilitators, Development Aid from people to People (Dapp) had trained 23 youths in carpentry and joinery within 14 days.
Experts in this field will agree that 14 days was very little time for any generic student to grasp the basic required in carpentry.
But the amazing fact was that the 23 youthful students comprising nine girls, made it. Within the period of training, they jointly managed to produced many wooden materials such as display cabinets, sofas, beds, chairs and coffins.
The selected few youths from Chiringa Youth Group, clearly demonstrated that as many youths out there they had potential, unexploited which could be used not only in developing the country but their livelihoods as well.
The group's Director, Christopher Chanza said the training was vital to youths in the area because there are no technical schools in the district.
Chanza was blunt that the training was long overdue to young people in Chiringa as they were still energetic with an ultimate goal of contributing to national development on large scale.
“We hope to be supported with business by the community and authorities present here for the carpentry skills we have acquired. Above that, we request Teveta to come up with another training in entrepreneurial and business management skills to help us grow our firms,” said Chanza.
Teveta indicated that the course was implemented under the Integrated Strategic Skills Development (ISSDP) on its outreach training programme.
ISSDP targets communities to offers opportunities to youths including school drop outs with skills to empower them.
Teveta Executive Director, Yusuf Alide pointed out that they have prioritised increasing broadening access to quality technical and vocational training.
“This is espoused in both the current National Education Sector Plan (Nesp) and Teveta strategic plan for 2007-2012 and we are aggressively looking into the expansion of the training markets for technical and vocational training.
“Some of the initiatives along this line are registration of more training providers, establishment of more facilitation units including village polytechnics and satelite skills development centres in the rural communities,” said Alide.
He added that the initiatives are all aimed at giving more opportunities to the needy youths on skills development to spur social and economic development in rural areas across the country.
“In this way the country will ensure generation of relevant and quality skills that can respond to the aspiration of Teveta's mission of directing the sustainable acquisition of internationally competitive and recognisable technical, entrepreneurial and vocational skills by the Malawian workforce” said Alide.
He then assured the youth that Teveta would consider conducting technical and entrepreneurship trainings so that those who graduate should ably start their own businesses.
“Its indeed true that apart from the technical skills there is need for you to have proper business management skills that is why I can assure you that Teveta will make a proper decision for that,” said Alide.
However there is need for all other training institutions to make more investments so that their intake capacity is increased to help in providing training to the 200,000 youth that flood the country after completion of secondary education.
As it is, there is need for much effort to impart several skills to the many youths roaming the street not only in technical, but also in agriculture, management and even education.
But this must be done with emphasis on entrepreneurship because then, and only then, will the many youths coming out of colleges and other training institutions be willing to be independent from the perceptions that they would be employed.
With all the initiatives being undertaken by government and financial institutions, self employment through entrepreneurship is sustainable.
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