Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) and Malawi Police Service have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the two institutions offering each other training services.
Through the MoU, which was signed on Tuesday at the National Police Headquarters in Lilongwe, the Police will have access to music training for its officers in the Music Department at the Thyolo-based Must at an affordable cost while the Thyolo-based Must will have a police facility opened close to the university for the benefit of the school and neighbouring communities.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Inspector General Rodney Jose acknowledged that music standards have deteriorated in the service largely because of lack of professional training.
He said: “Because of lack of finances, it has been 15 years since we sent our Music Department officers to United Kingdom where they usually get their training in music and the consequences of that can be felt in the quality of music they are now performing. This MoU, I must say, will turn things around in our music department.”
Must vice-chancellor Address Malata said the training will be delivered through Must’s Bingu School of Culture and Heritage which offers music studies.
The university has the Bingu School of Culture and Heritage, Malawi Institute of Technology, School of Climate and Health Sciences. It also has a hospital.
Said Malata: “Music is important. It is part of our culture. We are pushing for high quality; the music has to be of high quality. We have to fill the gaps and develop every aspect of the country’s areas to high quality and at the end of the day, we uphold to high quality service delivery in the country.”
She also said that as a university it wants to venture into research in issues of national interest such as the recent blood suckers phenomenon, saying: “If we partner with institutions like the police and research on, let’s say the recent blood suckers issue, we should be able to make scientific and cultural conclusions and at the end be able to make decisions as a country from an informed point of view.
