Malawi vocational education

A project aimed at developing the professional skills of college staff in Malawi is to receive £60,000 from the Scottish Government's International Development Fund.

The capacity building of the Malawi Vocational Sector project aims to ensure that college Principals, Deputy Principals and lecturers in Malawi benefit from the help and experience of their Scottish counterparts in improving classroom delivery and professional development.

This will include funding for Scottish participants to travel to Malawi to deliver leadership, quality assurance and teaching skills training.

At the Scottish Further Education Unit Annual Conference in Glasgow, , External Affairs Minister, Linda Fabiani said:

"This funding injection will support the participating Scottish colleges to complete the planning process to deliver the project in a country with 13 colleges serving a population of 13 million people. Scarce resources need to be used smartly and that's where the excellence of the Scottish sector can help.

"I want all of Scotland's colleges to become involved in this inspiring project - the potential for far reaching and long lasting benefit to the whole of Malawi is immense."

Potential funding of up to £250,000 has been identified for future years of this project.

Graham Keith, Director of Scotland's Colleges International, said:

"The experience of staff in Scotland's colleges has been of great benefit to developing countries' vocational systems across the world.

"It is wonderful that Scotland's Government is using our expertise in support of the people of Malawi and we look forward to making a big difference to their future".

Scotland's Colleges International have taken the lead in promoting this project which will benefit every college in Malawi (currently 13 of them) and Adam Smith College has devised a project which would involve several of Scotland's colleges in delivering a positive, wide ranging project to the whole Vocational sector in Malawi.

There is a commitment to further funding in subsequent financial years to complete the project which will be dependent on the buy in from Scotland's colleges. Informal feedback from those of Scotland's colleges who have heard of the project is very favourable and as soon as a critical mass of Scotland's colleges come forward to support the project it will receive a fuller funding package to allow rollout across all of Malawi over the coming year 2008-09.