By Watipaso Mzungu – Nyasa Times

At least 7, 500 civil servants and Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) students are expected to benefit from free digital and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills training by DMI-St. John the Baptist University (DMISJBU).

The university has launched a project, which aims to build the capacity of the said number of civil servants and students with digital and ICT skills by 2026.

It is envisaged that after acquiring the skills, the beneficiaries should be able to actively and productively participate in activities designed to grow the national economy.

Speaking at the launch of the project on Tuesday, Minister of Information and Digitalization, Gospel Kazako, appealed to private institutions to partner with the government in advancing and promoting digital and ICT skills training in Malawi.

Kazako stated that if properly harnessed, digital space could present Malawians with unprecedented economic opportunities to transform the country.

“We cannot accept to be spectators and let ourselves be left behind as the world gallops forward and making full use of the digital space to transform people’s lives, my plea is that as we enhance ICT skills of our people through this initiative and several other interventions, we must make every effort to ensure that our people in rural areas especially the youth are not left behind,” he said.

Kazako said he was particularly delighted that the DMI University project targets public servants who are the stakeholders of various government policies and strategies.

He said it is imperative that civil and public servants are empowered with necessary skills and knowledge to undertake their responsibilities competently.

Kazako–Private institutions should partner with government in promoting digital and ICT skills training in Malawi

Narrated Kazako, “As a nation, we have to set ourselves on a very ambitious path towards total transformation of our country through our vision 2063, through this vision we have all committed ourselves to position our economy as a competitive player on the global market and ensuring that embrace ICT as an enabler of driving our economy.”

The minister expressed government commitment to promote investment in ICT infrastructure to increase digital access and technological adoption saying it is impossible to achieve all the ambitious targets if Public Servants and the general population do not have required digital and ICT skills to drive the Malawi 2063 agenda.

In his remarks, Bishop of Mangochi Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, who is also the Pro-Chancellor DMI-St. John the Baptist University, Right Reverend Montfort Stima, said ICT for all project demonstrates the university’s commitment to supporting the Malawi 2063 agenda, which is being championed by National Planning Commission.

Stima said the project cuts across different departments and ministries such as the Ministry of Information and Digitalization, Ministry of Education, Malawi Police Services, Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, TEVETA and MACRA.

“ICT revolution has penetrated into every sector of the economy and society and it has transformed the way in which the government functions, financial services and every part of non-financial services. The synergies of numerous emerging trends in ICT have shaped and changed the world order, so it is very important for Malawi to cope up with the dynamic changing environment in line with the Malawi Development and Growth Strategy III and Malawi 2063 agenda and this is also articulated in the national ICT policy,” he said.

Stima added that the digital culture and digital literacy change the ways people live at work, play and learn, saying people with less familiarity with digital culture and digital literacy will be disadvantageous to Malawi and the global economy.

“This initiative we hope that will help the students achieve the following, develop skills in software development and hardware maintenance so as to enable the graduates to take up self-employment in the country and the global market and will provide a solid academic, technical and intellectual background that would enable them to pursue higher studies in computer science, although the project is target 7, 500 non-paying participants the university has extended the project to other beneficiaries who will be paying modest fees as 50 per cent scholarship for other students and 75 per cent scholarship for corporates and private sector,” he narrated.

MDI St. John the Baptist University Vice Chancellor, Dr Jerin Leno, said the university serves more than 500, 000 women, 10, 000 students at college level 8, 000 students school level and 35, 000 children under its care globally.

Leno said the institution is currently offering diploma and degree level courses in computer science and engineering, management, commerce, social work and education.