NORAD guests appreciate developments at UNIMA

The University of Malawi is committed to delivering high-quality education to both local and international undergraduate and postgraduate students. In pursuit of its mission to provide quality education, the university is actively working to strengthen its global partnerships with various renowned international universities. On 1st November, 2023, the University of Malawi received visitors from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) who are funding various projects at the university.

Welcoming the guests, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Samson Sajidu, expressed gratitude to the NORAD visitors for their continuous support over the years. He pointed out how impactful the NORAD-supported projects have been, having been beneficial to both University of Malawi staff and to the country as a whole. He also explained some of the challenges the university has been facing in terms of student accommodation, office space, and staffing.

Lisa Sivertsen, Director in the Department of Human Development at NORAD, expressed delight about the collaboration with the University of Malawi (UNIMA). She further stated that they were impressed with what they had seen at the UNIMA campus, including the refurbished Mathematics lecture rooms and their interactions with some of the Ph.D. graduates who had benefited from the projects. She also praised UNIMA for consistently delivering impressive results from various projects under the Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED). She concluded by emphasizing NORAD’s long-standing partnership with UNIMA, highlighting UNIMA’s strong track record.

Also present during the meeting was Professor Mercy Kazima Kishindo, who has been leading the projects. She explained that the visit of NORAD officials was of paramount importance as they had come to UNIMA to appreciate the projects that had taken place in past years.

“The first project, ‘Improving the Quality and Capacity of Mathematics Teacher Education,’ commenced in 2014 and concluded in 2019, while the latest project, ‘Strengthening Numeracy through the Professional Development of Teachers,’ began in 2017 and concluded in 2022. Through these projects, we managed to refurbish Mathematics classrooms and a teaching laboratory,” she said.

Professor Kishindo gave a presentation to the NORAD visitors, focusing on the achievements that have resulted from the NORHED projects. She further mentioned that the successes of these projects included the development of a Ph.D. program in Mathematics and a Masters in Mathematics Science Education program. Additionally, she explained that the projects offered scholarships to female students.

Later in the day, the officials from NORAD admired the beauty that the UNIMA campus holds and also visited the Resource Room Center, expressing their appreciation for the inclusion of students with special needs on campus.