By Maria Tembo

Ntchisi, March 26, Mana: At least 49 graduates from the area of Senior Chief Vuso Jere in Ntchisi district who were withdrawn from coffee and tobacco farms and reinstated into technical schools to acquire various vocational skills, have been equipped with start-up tool kits.

The 49 were withdrawn under the Accelerating Action in the Elimination of Child Labour (ACCEL Africa) project which is being implemented by Impact Centre for Economic Empowerment and Development funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The project was inspired by the increasing number of children being involved in child labour activities across the country according to ILO Technical Officer for Social Protection Patience Matandiko who was speaking Monday, during the handover ceremony of tool kits in the district.

Matandiko said with the skills the youths had acquired, it is her hope that they would be able to act as role models in their communities and create jobs to fellow youth and train others on the same.

“The statistics we have, indicate that 37 percent of children in Malawi are involved in child labour and the numbers are very high and the children are denied a chance of being involved in productive activities of the country,” she said.

Impact Centre for Economic Empowerment and Development (ICEED) Director Madalitso Chidumu Baloyi said her organization’s goal was to make sure that children withdrawn from child labour activities are economically empowered and independent to be able to sustain a comfortable livelihood.

She said so far 283 youths have been trained with vocational skills in the districts’ of Thyolo, Mulanje, Chitipa, Mzimba and Ntchisi and hope that more youths will benefit from the same.

“These youths will be able to help their families as they will be able to generate income through the vocational skills they have gained and will also be able to employ fellow youth in their communities,” explained Baloyi.

In his remarks, Regional Service Centre Manager for Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TEVETA) Josephy Sambaya says this is a significant development as most youths that have undergone different vocational skills, only get certificates and not the skills startup toolkits.

He said he was confident that the youths would be able to get employment from different organisations in the district while others would be able to start their own businesses.

One of the graduates, Mtendere Mphadwe, who has acquired skills in carpentry and joinery says the vocational training is timely and hopes to impart his fellow youths with the same skills.

The startup toolkits that have been given to youths in the district are worth MK 58 million.