During the recent Unima fundraising dinner at Bingu
International Convention Centre in Lilongwe, President of Malawi Professor
Peter Mutharika made a controversial speech that elicited anger from scholars
in the country.
The president called on the university lecturers in the country to concentrate on research and "not commenting on public trivial" as quoted by Malawi online’s Nyasatimes. Apparently, the last part did not go well with the academia who viewed the statement as a move to shut them up from commenting on issues of national interest. Whether the comment had any political connotation, the fact is the president underscored a very important point. Research is very is very important not only for the credentials of the people involved but also for the development of every country.
What variety of maize- the staple food of Malawi- can best suit the current weather pattern of the country? Apart from maize, what other crops can we grow to outsmart the persistent drought in the country? How best can we maximize technology in the country to ensure we export more for the better health of the nation's economy? Talking of our main interest; how can we improve drugs to eradicate malaria in children/ what is a collect dosing of new drugs in Children? And more importantly how can we eradicate various diseases in the country? All these are the questions which can be answered after conducting research.
The recent Ebola outbreak in Siera Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria exposed gap that exists in Africa as whole in research and containing the disease. Thanks to U.K.’s Department of International Development and the Wellcome Foundation's- $64 million- five-year research project called the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Initiative for African Scientists (DELTAS), the continent may as well have manpower should similar epidemic erupt again.
So a million dollar question would what we need to do to promote research in Malawi and even the rest of Africa? The first step will be therefore to put in place structures that will support these studies, we also need to equip our universities with laboratories and enough structure for this especially for Quantitative research based in Laboratories. Though this may have cost implications but its worth for the government to invest substantial amount in the annual budget to carter for research in universities. Currently, there is a research component attached to Malawi University of Science and Technology. I believe therefore, that the country is on the right path in as far as research it’s concerned in Malawi, College of Medicine is also involved in a lot of research and its bearing fruits.
The president called on the university lecturers in the country to concentrate on research and "not commenting on public trivial" as quoted by Malawi online’s Nyasatimes. Apparently, the last part did not go well with the academia who viewed the statement as a move to shut them up from commenting on issues of national interest. Whether the comment had any political connotation, the fact is the president underscored a very important point. Research is very is very important not only for the credentials of the people involved but also for the development of every country.
What variety of maize- the staple food of Malawi- can best suit the current weather pattern of the country? Apart from maize, what other crops can we grow to outsmart the persistent drought in the country? How best can we maximize technology in the country to ensure we export more for the better health of the nation's economy? Talking of our main interest; how can we improve drugs to eradicate malaria in children/ what is a collect dosing of new drugs in Children? And more importantly how can we eradicate various diseases in the country? All these are the questions which can be answered after conducting research.
As a
nation the most important question would be why we are not conducting more
research and publishing more in the international reputable journals as our
counterparts in the western world? The
problem is however not restricted to Malawi, many nations in the region also
face similar challenges. Many times than not, most of the research in Africa is
conducted by people from the west who have funding and the capacity for that.
The saddest part is that these international researchers are conducting studies
into the very diseases that are affecting Africans; diseases that are robbing
the continent of its manpower though they don’t fully understand the natural or
social contexts that they are working in. Moreover, these are the same diseases
costing governments thousands of dollars yearly.
The recent Ebola outbreak in Siera Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria exposed gap that exists in Africa as whole in research and containing the disease. Thanks to U.K.’s Department of International Development and the Wellcome Foundation's- $64 million- five-year research project called the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Initiative for African Scientists (DELTAS), the continent may as well have manpower should similar epidemic erupt again.
So a million dollar question would what we need to do to promote research in Malawi and even the rest of Africa? The first step will be therefore to put in place structures that will support these studies, we also need to equip our universities with laboratories and enough structure for this especially for Quantitative research based in Laboratories. Though this may have cost implications but its worth for the government to invest substantial amount in the annual budget to carter for research in universities. Currently, there is a research component attached to Malawi University of Science and Technology. I believe therefore, that the country is on the right path in as far as research it’s concerned in Malawi, College of Medicine is also involved in a lot of research and its bearing fruits.
According to Jonathan Harle, programmes manager (research
capacity) at the Association of Commonwealth Universities notes in the Guardian;
career building is about institutions as
much as
individuals so the next step to improve research in the country would therefore
be to ensure the next generation of young people are passionate about research
and science careers. This should be done right away from high/ secondary schools
and can be achieved by introducing modules into the science subjects which will
provide a strong background for research. Through community engagement
there can be other after school programmes that can expose them (students) to
research and eventually help them develop the zeal to become researchers. "University's
future rests on its next generation of academics," writes Harle.
"...But (African) universities aren't always doing enough to nurture and
support their emerging talent."
Many scholars in the world agree that doing research is not only an issue to do with funding or money but by using the available resources, a number of research studies can be conducted in our universities. As the Chancellor of the University of Malawi, I would agree and probably the lecturers can agree with him too that we need more research if we are to develop. We also need to inspire our young generation to have passion for science (Which of course involves research). Only if we provide capacity for the same, we will lag behind decades from now. So yes the President’s call for research had its own good part though it was it came at a wrong time
Many scholars in the world agree that doing research is not only an issue to do with funding or money but by using the available resources, a number of research studies can be conducted in our universities. As the Chancellor of the University of Malawi, I would agree and probably the lecturers can agree with him too that we need more research if we are to develop. We also need to inspire our young generation to have passion for science (Which of course involves research). Only if we provide capacity for the same, we will lag behind decades from now. So yes the President’s call for research had its own good part though it was it came at a wrong time
References
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