Grace, Amadu Now Think Business! Grace Chagweruka, 23, and Amadu Laisi, 25, are distant cousins from two distant villages in Ntchisi district but they share a common story. Both come from poor families and, if it were not for the introduction of ODL programs at public universities and a scholarship from SHEAMA, they probably would not stand the chance of attaining a higher education qualification. “The moment I missed selection to public university in 2020, I feared for my future. I am from a poor family and my parents cannot afford to send me to private colleges,” says Grace. Similarly, her cousin Amadu missed out on government selection to university in spite of scoring an admirable 22 points from a community day secondary school. “My first choice was Chancellor College where I wanted to study Computer Sciences but it never was to be,” he bemoans. Limited bed space at public universities and poverty, are keeping many youths particularly those from poor homes, away from higher education. Thanks to the USAID-funded Strengthening Higher Education Access in Malawi Activity (SHEAMA) many such sad stories are being re-written. Through the project’s collaboration with five public universities and a scholarship program, numerous ODL short courses at certificate and diploma levels are being rolled out and this has seen many youths such as Grace and Amadu accessing skills that would make them employable. The story of the two cousins took a dramatic turn last year when “The moment I missed MUST advertised an online certificate in Business Management and selection to public Entrepreneurship (BME) with scholarship from SHEAMA targeting poor students. university in 2020, I The two applied and were successful for both enrolment and feared for my future. I scholarship. The ODL mode of learning meant they had to study from am from a poor family home – online – using a mobile phone to access audios, videos and pdf documents from their lecturers. This entails proper time and my parents cannot management and scheduling of domestic chores especially for girls afford fees for a private who are often burdened by gender roles in the home. college.” – Grace. 1 | Figure 1: Amadu studying on his smart phone 2 | Three Boys, One Big Dream! Figure 2: (From left) Bright Gunda, Joshua Kacheyo and Blenard Nasson Bright Gunda (24), Joshua Kacheyo (20) and Nasson Blenard (25) are all from Nathenje in Lilongwe and graduated from Community Day Secondary Schools. Having failed to get selected to any public university, they spent their time doing nothing in particular. “I was fast drifting into becoming a delinquent. Most of my peers were drinking, smoking and committing felonies all due to idleness,” confesses Nasson. Thanks to SHEAMA, the three attended the 4-month Certificate in Electrical Installation (CEI) course at Malawi Polytechnic under ODL and benefitted from a full scholarship from the project. “It was a dream come true. I had always wanted to study with the Polytechnic,” says Nasson. The three, alongside other SHEAMA scholars, were drilled in Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering, Health Safety and Standards, Domestic Installation and Industrial Installation, among others. 3 | The three then went through a one-week hands-on at Poly’s Department of Electrical Engineering and later internship under the same supervisor. Two months after their internship, the three young men still stick together, securing jobs in their community and sometimes helping their former supervisor for a fee. “We have a plan, that is why we still stick together,” says Joshua, the youngest of the three, “We plan to register with the Malawi Regulatory Authority so we can have a company and do big electrical installation jobs.” The three have the reason to dream big. There are many Government construction works in their community and across the country and they plan to tap from that in addition to other recurring jobs such as domestic electrical installation. “The ODL program from Poly and the scholarship from SHEAMA has given us the reason to believe in ourselves and look into the future with hope,” he says adding, “We are already assembling our equipment from the proceeds that we make.” 4 | Maria’s Turning Point! For many youth in Malawi, attaining higher education is a dream that never comes true largely due to limited bed space at public universities and inability for the needy to pay fees. Such was the case with Maria Kondowe, 28, from Lukhwawa village Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwasiska in the lakeshore district of Nkhatabay. Until six months ago, Maria had gone through all forms of academic disappointments and she had given up on ever achieving a meaningful life for herself. Her story began to change for the better the moment she got selected to attend a Community Day Secondary School (CDSS). In Malawi, open day secondary schools are often limited in resources. They rarely have functional libraries and laboratories for science subjects. Also, many of the teachers have been upgraded from teaching in primary schools and often lack the content knowledge for more advanced courses. It was not surprising therefore that Maria and many other students from Zolozolo CDSS could not make it to any of the country’s public universities. Further attempts to acquire tertiary qualifications only left her further disappointed. “I applied for nursing school and was left out. I tried teaching, I was not selected either. What really gutted me was when I applied to become a mere hospital attendant and was never picked,” she recalls. Disappointed and bitter, Maria got married and went on to work in the maize field – all her dreams of becoming a nurse shuttered. 5 | Today, Maria is no longer the distraught girl she once was. Everything about her speaks volumes of what a happy and confident young woman she has become. She is studying for a Certificate in Electrical Installation (CEI) with the Malawi Polytechnic to gain skills that will make her employable to become financially dependent. This is thanks to the Strengthening Higher Education Access in Malawi Activity (SHEAMA) which has sponsored her to study the short course through Open Distance and e-Learning (ODe-L) at the public university. SHEAMA, which is funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) seeks to increase the number of skilled and employable workforce by supporting ODL programs at public universities and providing scholarships to needy students especially adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) like Maria and vulnerable young men. After studying online for three months, Maria and her other 104 CEI students [84 of whom are on a SHEAMA scholarship] were called to Poly for one week for hands on training to enhance their practical knowledge. She is now on internship at Prera Electrical to sharpen her skills. So far, she has been part of the team assigned to install electricity at a community day secondary school in Kasungu district. Her supervisor, Mr. Patrick Msiska cannot believe Maria has been studying from home. “All our interns have the background of face- to-face. This is our first time to interact with a student who has been studying on her own from home. Her understanding of issues and determination are outstanding. She can do circuit connection, wiring diagrams and connection of cooker control unit. We would love to see her in self-employment, creating jobs for other girls like her,” says Msiska. Maria, probably the happiest apprentice in town, says she is ready to go out and make a difference for her family and community where she comes from. “I never thought I would ever attain tertiary education. Just six months ago I was an ordinary farmer growing maize and vegetables; today I am an electrician. I can’t hide my joy,” says Maria, smiling. 6 | Collaboration that works: Public universities learn to share Dr Mhango (left) sharing knowledge across all five public universities and (right), participants from Chancellor College With schools indefinitely closed due to COVID-19, the soft underbelly of Malawi’s education system has been exposed and calls to invest more in Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) could never be any louder. With limited resources to fast-track the provision of ODeL among the country’s higher learning institutions, collaboration is the obvious way to go. Unfortunately, higher learning institutions are not too popular with sharing resources as they regard each other competitors – but not anymore. Thanks to the USAID-funded SHEAMA project, four public universities in Malawi can now work together, sharing knowledge and material resources in a bid to upscale delivery of lessons through ODeL as a response to COVID-19. What started last year with the signing of a MOU among the institutions – Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Mzuzu University, Chancellor College, Polytechnic and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), has blossomed into the actual sharing of resources to achieve the common goal of increasing access to higher education. Among other things, the five colleges have opened up their satellite centers to the rest of the group. This means any of the colleges has access to a satellite center owned by any of the member colleges for delivery of lessons through ODeL in a cost-effective manner. What a winner for Malawi’s underserved students! SHEAMA facilitated the development of an ODL center business model which ensures that the facilities are utilized amongst the colleges in a sustainable manner. 7 | Explains the ODL Director at SHEAMA, Dr Joshua Valeta: “The SHEAMA project is built on a defined fundamental principle of collaboration and it is exciting to see prospective students accessing application forms and related program information at a center belonging to one college for a course advertised by another college.” The collaboration is even more evident in the sharing of human resource.