Education expert Ziliro Mchulu has challenged Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLGB) to reconsider its funding priorities, arguing that producing more university graduates will not deliver economic transformation unless their skills match the country’s development needs.
Speaking to Malawi24, Mchulu said HESLGB should direct more funding towards agriculture, engineering, medicine, information and communications technology (ICT), education, manufacturing and energy to address skills shortages and support national development.
He said higher education financing should be treated as an investment in Malawi’s economic future rather than simply a way of expanding access to university education.
Mchulu argued that Malawi 2063 identifies agricultural productivity, industrialisation, urbanisation and human capital development as key pillars, making it necessary to align university training with the skills required to achieve these goals.
“The loans board should have Malawi 2063 in mind when funding students,” he said, calling for priority training areas to be identified in line with the country’s development agenda.
He said Malawi needs more professionals in critical fields to strengthen production and public services, citing the need for specialist medical personnel as one example of why training priorities matters.
Mchulu said the loans board should work with relevant government ministries to identify shortages in specific professions and direct student financing towards courses that could address those gaps.
He stressed that the proposal does not mean other degrees are useless but argued that Malawi’s immediate development needs require greater attention to programmes that directly support economic growth.
Mchulu also linked the proposal to loan recovery, arguing that graduates who secure employment and earn sufficient incomes could repay their loans, allowing the scheme to support future students.
He cited Rwanda and Ghana as examples of countries that have sought to align education financing with national development priorities.
He also pointed to China and India, arguing that investment in science, technology, and technical skills has helped to strengthen their productive and industrial capacities.
The education expert further called for stronger integration of vocational training into the country’s skills development strategy, saying technical education is important for industrial growth and economic transformation.
He argued that expanding access to student loans alone is not enough to build a knowledge-based economy if the programmes being funded do not adequately match labour-market needs.
Mchulu said Malawi should treat human capital development as part of its national economic strategy, ensuring that public resources invested in higher education help produce the skilled workforce needed to achieve the country’s development ambitions.