Skills Development Programmes

The government of Malawi with funding from the World Bank will implement a Skills Development Project (SDP). This four year project builds on the World Bank’s New Education Strategy 2020 and the IDA’s “Skills toward Employment and Productivity” (STEP) framework, which proposes a sequenced combination of education, training, and labor market activities to improve skills needed for productivity and economic growth. The project aims to promote equitable opportunities for skill development to rural youth from poor and vulnerable backgrounds. The project supports the development of different occupational categories within priority areas, such as professionals, middle level and vocational occupations. It is expected that this will ensure greater synergies between the skills development and academic/education sectors and pave the way to life-long learning and better labor market outcomes. At country level the project has targeted the public universities and Technical Entrepreneurial and Vocational Training Authority (TEVETA). These institutional have developed various Institutional Implementation Plans (IIP) that will increase access to vocational and higher education. In this regard, the LUANAR is to introduce other teaching and learning delivery modes that will allow more students to access its academic programmes. The emphasis of the SDP IIP Luanar component is to expand the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode.