Zantchito Skills for Jobs is a four-year €5.7 million Technical Assistance (TA) initiative funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the British Council in Malawi. This project falls under the Pillar assessed contribution agreement (PACA) and is part of the broader Zantchito Skills for Jobs Project, focusing on enhancing employability and entrepreneurship opportunities for young Technical, Entrepreneurial, and Vocational Education and Training (TEVET) graduates in Malawi, with a special emphasis on addressing the needs of women and girls.
Objectives
The overarching objective of the Zantchito Project is to increase employability and self-employment opportunities for young TEVET graduates and entrepreneurs in Malawi. This will be achieved through two main components:
- Skills component: enhancing the quality and inclusiveness of outcomes in the TEVET system through the Technical Assistance (TA)
- Entrepreneurship component: supporting entrepreneurial initiatives and fostering an enabling environment for entrepreneurship.
Under the Skills Component, the Technical Assistance aspect aims to achieve the following specific objectives:
- Improve coordination of the national TEVET system to enhance governance and quality of outcomes.
- Develop TEVET delivery and outcomes aligned with sectoral, local economic, and social needs.
Specific objective 1 (strategic support): The project will provide technical assistance to develop a coordinated system of institutional responsibilities, legislation, policies, and strategy. Key stakeholders include the Ministry of Labour (MoL), Technical Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education Training Authority (TEVETA), relevant ministries, government bodies, private sector representatives, and the National Planning Commission. The focus is on enhancing the MoL's capacity to coordinate, govern, and manage an inclusive TEVET portfolio.
Specific objective 2 (delivery level support): Activities under this objective will adopt a sectoral approach aligned with priorities outlined in Malawi 2063. The project is collaborating with existing national technical colleges, establishing four Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) to serve as lead institutions for skills development tailored to labour market demands.
Through strategic and delivery-level interventions, the project seeks to align TEVET outcomes with sectoral needs and foster a conducive environment for skills development and entrepreneurship. This project is in line with Malawi’s 2063, the over-arching plan for the country’s long-term development goal of attaining an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant industrialised upper middle-income status by 2063, recognises quality TEVET as essential for developing a globally competitive and highly motivated human resource that will drive achievement of the vision.
