Government of Canada Provides Support for the University of Regina to Develop Skills Training Course

Dave Batters, Member of Parliament for Palliser, on behalf of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, today announced support for a new development project in which the University of Regina will work with partners in Malawi to upgrade technical training programs.

"The Government of Canada is pleased to work with the University of Regina to deliver real results in the lives of Malawi's students," said Minister Oda. "With this funding, the University of Malawi Polytechnic will be able to update its curriculum and skills training courses to better reflect the needs of Malawi's job market, and will prepare students for employment across the public and private sectors."

"The people of Saskatchewan and all Canadians should be proud of the difference our academic experts are making in the world by sharing their knowledge and skills," said Mr. Batters.

The $2.4 million in funding will help redesign the Polytechnic's curriculum to make it more relevant to Malawi's social and economic development. Several stakeholders in Malawi are involved in this project including the Chamber of Commerce, the Technical Entrepreneurial Vocational Education Training Authority (TEVETA), and the Ministries of Education and Labour.

"We learned that the Polytechnic graduates were having difficulty integrating into the Malawi workforce because they were lacking the technical skills needed by employers," said Dr. Rosetta Khalideen, Director, Adult Education and Human Resource Development at the University of Regina. "This project will help provide the reorientation sought by our Malawian partners to change that."

The project is funded by CIDA's University Partnerships in Cooperation and Development Program (UPCD). Through UPCD, Canadian universities work with organizations in developing countries to increase their abilities to meet local human resources needs and development needs.

The announcement renews the commitment made by Prime Minister Harper at last year's G8 Summit to double Canadian assistance to Africa from 2003-04 levels, to reach $2.1 billion by 2008-09.