Mzuzu University students have raised fresh concerns over fees and welfare pressures they say are disrupting learning and examinations, according to Nyasa Times in a report republished by AllAfrica. Nyasa Times reports that the Mzuzu University Students’ Representative Council said more than 40 academically eligible students were barred from sitting end-of-semester examinations because they had not cleared tuition balances, and that many students are also struggling to access adequate food on campus. The students’ body said it had written to the university council to demand urgent action, and it blamed delayed student loan disbursements by the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board, as well as the exclusion of Open and Distance Learning students from the loans programme, according to Nyasa Times via AllAfrica.
Separately, the World Bank said Malawi’s weak job creation is leaving many young people without formal employment, a challenge that affects school leavers and graduates entering the labour market. In its latest Malawi Economic Monitor, the World Bank Group said about 270,000 young people join the labour market each year while the economy creates roughly 40,000 formal jobs, and it called for coordinated reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and improve service delivery to help unlock private investment and job creation, according to the World Bank Group.