The Minister made these remarks on September 23, 2020 during the tour of duty which she visited and inspected various equipment and protective gears which the Polytechnic Design studio has been producing.

The equipment includes; the full body decontaminating chamber, the face shields, 3D reusable masks, the solar cooler, pedal operated hand wash unit, the drone, the low-cost ventilators and the hand sanitizer.

“I want to appreciate what I have seen today at the Polytechnic regarding how engineers and applied science professionals have responded to the COVID 19 challenge which is among us,” she said.

The Minister added that she was inspired by the questionnaire which was designed to point out what was needed to be done. She also highlighted that she is impressed with the three task forces which the college formed, where by they were looking at issues to do with the guidelines, impact on the economy and the innovations. 

“Malawi is predominantly occupied by young people, if we are to take and teach them those skills, with that kind of energy and focus on innovation, release them to the industry, where will Malawi be in terms of the economy?” queried Nyalonje.

She later said that her ministry will look into the issue of delinking which has taken a long time to finalize. She added that if Polytechnic could be a stand-alone University the number of students who will be graduating yearly could increase.

In his remarks, the Principal Professor Grant Kululanga started by congratulating the Minister on her appointment and promised that the Polytechnic staff and students are ready to work with her.

He further thanked the Minister for allowing the college to start opening in phases considering all the COVID 19 measures which it has put in place.