Malawi Science university appeals for support

Newly opened Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) has asked the public to support it so that it opens full throttle.

Must’s project coordinator Tarsizius Nampota said this on Wednesday after receiving a K1.1 million grant for critical laboratory equipment from National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST).

The university opened in March this year with 127 bio-medical students, but has the capacity to enrol about 6 000 students.

Currently, Must students use University of Malawi’s Polytechnic and College of Medicine laboratories.

NCST director general Anthony Muyepa Phiri said the commission made the gesture after Must appealed to them for help to procure state-of-the-art oxygen bomb calorimetre which will be used for teaching and carrying out research.

The university, which does not have a purposely-built laboratory, is currently in the process of turning one of the lecture rooms into a lab.

“We are purchasing high-tech equipment and I am glad that some of it is already in the country. But we are looking for more support from the general public,” said Nampota.

He added that currently there are only eight permanent lecturers who, due to absence of staff houses, reside in Blantyre.

“We have already identified land. We have also already made a proposal to government to consider us in the 2014/15 National Budget. We need our lecturers to live close to the college,” he said.