JB installed as Unima chancellor

Malawi President Joyce Banda has been installed as chancellor of the University of Malawi and in her maiden speech this Friday, she acknowledged lack of resources and space as challenges affecting Unima.

Speaking when she presided over the graduation of 1 654 students from Unima at the College of Medicine campus in Blantyre, Banda said great financial input is needed to sort out challenges affecting Unima education.

“My government is committed to investing as much as possible into education. With only 15 percent of primary school leavers attending secondary school, and only three percent of these having a chance of entering university, we, however, have a significant task ahead of us, a monumental task that government cannot achieve alone,” Banda said.

She said there is need to invest in education to improve the economy.

“We need high quality education system to provide the relevant skills to the labour market and create capacity to understand and use global knowledge in science and technology, for example, in the agriculture sector.”

The President then challenged the graduates to be relevant on the market as a reflection of their studies.

“It is not the number of certificates, diplomas and degrees you get in life but what you do after you leave that classroom [that matters],” she advised.

University Council chairperson Professor Leonard Kamwanja asked the graduates to be problem-solvers and not problem creators.

He also asked them to manage their lives and those of others well for the sake of the country’s development.