AFRICA - Feverish work in Malawi and Zambia to complete construction of two new Catholic Universities before the end of next year

Lusaka (Fides Service)- Before the end of next year Africa will have two more Catholic Universities one in Zambia and the other Malawi thanks to the respective Catholic Bishops’ Conferences.
“The project is carefully followed by two task forces created by the Bishops” said local sources. “A great effort is being made in both countries and it is hoped that by the end of 2006 Zambia and Malawi will have a new Catholic university”.
“Many difficulties had to be overcome but the projects have full support from governments in both countries highly appreciative of years of Catholic education and convinced that a new Catholic University will boost education and culture and provide jobs” the source told Fides.
“For the moment each college will have only one faculty, Education Sciences in Malawi and Business Studies in Zambia. In Malawi the bishops felt the need to train teachers for the country, in Zambia the Bishops chose training geared to world of labour”.
“One important point is that both Bishops’ Conferences aim to fund the projects as far as possible with local resources using only limited aid from abroad” the source said. “This decision reflects a general attitude of the Churches in Africa to be ever more self-supporting also from the financial point of view. However they do intend to twin the new colleges with Catholic universities in other countries”.
The new University in Malawi is being built in the country’s economic capital Blantyre. “We decided to open a Catholic university because we realise that well-trained teachers are essential for the development of our country” said Archbishop Tarcizius Ziyaye of Blantyre. The faculty will train primary and secondary teachers in Letters and Science and Social Sciences, (economy, political science, welfare and sociology).
In Malawi teachers are scarce: 43,000 primary school teachers compared to the required 54,000 and only 9,000 of the required 27,000 secondary school teachers. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 23/9/2005 righe 33 parole 385)