President Peter Mutharika has challenged graduating students of Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) to start own entrepreneurial activities instead of waiting to be employed.
Mutharika made the remarks today when he presided over the first graduation ceremony of MUST in Thyolo district.
According to Mutharika who is also the Chancellor of the university, Malawi is a country of opportunities and the graduating students should utilize such opportunities.
“I am delighted that you see that this University is teaching the spirit of entrepreneurship. We must be aggressive in the spirit of creating new businesses. I am delighted to note that this University teaches entrepreneurship for every program. Good education must be balanced and practical,”
“We do not teach knowledge for the sake of knowledge. I know some of you went through colonial education in this country. We would be told to dissect an insect and label its parts. But what is the use of such knowledge? We must never be afraid to break with tradition and start something new. There is always the first time for doing something new,” Mutharika said.
The president urged the graduating students to be good ambassadors of the university and help to solve challenges rocking the country.
“You are leaving this University to make Malawi an oil and gas producing country. You are going out to the country to support our people in fighting disasters that affect our lives every year. You are set to fight poverty,”
“You are going out with a mission for us to regain the glory of indigenous knowledge systems that once made Africa a great continent. You are going out as creators of solutions. You are the very spirit of this University . You are the spirit of new Malawi we want- a nation of innovators,” he said.
Speaking with Malawi Muslim Website, one of the graduating students,MacPhancio Nkhoma said MUST is a unique place for intellects.
“MUST is a good place and I will miss it. It is a unique place for people who need to study. It organised administration and that is why you didn’t see rampant strikes and closures as it is in other universities for the past 5 years,” said Nkhoma who graduated with Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (Honors).
MUST opened in 2014 with three five year engineering programmes–Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy and Materials Engineering–and in its second year, it added two more four year programmes–Earth Science and Meteorology and Climate Science.
These are the five undergraduate programmes that will be graduating their first students.
Some students also graduating are those who have been studying masters programmes in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
