The Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) has launched its 2024-2030 strategic plan which is aligned to local, regional and global development blueprints.

Launched in Lilongwe on May 8, 2024, the Minister of Education, Honourable Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima, applauded the university for ensuring that the strategic plan empowers the university to be a solution provider to local and global challenges through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.  

The Minister dared universities to be innovative and vibrant to help the country achieve Malawi 2063 (MW2063) aspirations to transform the country into a lower middle-income economy by 2030.

She said Malawi and the globe are beset by a myriad of challenges requiring solutions, but for a long time, the country has depended on the west and other countries for solutions which has not taken us anywhere.

Honourable Wirima observed that local challenges can best be solved by home-grown solutions and that universities are best suited to lead the process of generating such solutions.

“Universities should engage in real life and impactful research over academic exercises. Universities can contribute to the national development agenda by offering solutions to problems industries are facing through research, consultancies, and innovation of modern and advanced technologies that can lead to efficiency in production,” she said.

The minister said universities, especially those running on public resources, should demonstrate their relevance to the nation by being at the centre of solutions.

She reiterated government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment through policies that support the growth of science, technology and innovation (STI), which are key to the realisation of the MW2063.

MUST Council chairperson, Dr Matthews Mtumbuka said through the strategic plan, the university has resolved to champion the Industrialisation pillar as well as human capital development of the MW2063 national vision.

Dr Mtumbuka said so far, the university has already made great strides towards the cause.

“As a university, we have committed ourselves to be a solution provider through innovation and technology driven by science to address societal needs,” he said, while expressing university’s commitment to the strategic plan’s full implementation.

In her presentation, MUST Vice Chancellor Professor Address Malata said the strategy is aimed at providing a cutting edge, relevant, umunthu-centric, pedagogical experience in higher education, research and innovation responsive to societal needs.

“We want to be doing business unusual through forging of unconventional way, empower change makers and challenge norms to create the future. Innovation must be focused and education must extend beyond college boundaries,” she said.

In his keynote address, National Planning Commission director general Dr Thomas Munthali said MUST was central to realising the MW2063 development agenda.

“MUST comes central to the Malawi 2063 vision realisation with its unique ‘Big 5’ Strategic Plan pillars focusing on education excellence, research excellence, technology, innovation and enterprise, people and society, and enabling environment,” he said.

“I have made some important observations in the MUST Strategic Plan. First, is the careful choice of five pillars that directly talk to the key elements of the human capital development, secondly, is a clear commitment to aligning higher education with the principles of environmental conservation and sustainable development.”