The TEVETA–HWK Partnership Project marked another milestone when the Dual Vocational and Educational Training pilot course commenced in December 2022 with around 33 students participating out of which 15 are females while 17 are males.

Selected by companies, the students will undergo a dual training arrangement which will see them trained at the college and industry interchangeably. In this arrangement, students will undergo the first three months of training in colleges followed by another three months in companies. Upon completion of the first round of training in companies, students will go back to colleges for another three months and finally to companies for two months. Afterwards, the students will sit for examinations in the colleges.

Participating in the pilot phase are 2 technical colleges namely Comboni Technical College and Lilongwe Technical College. On the other hand, over 11 companies operating on a small, medium or large scale have been involved in selecting students for this trial phase.

Dual VET is a cooperation between companies and training institutions (Technical Colleges) mainly in the delivery of training of both theoretical knowledge acquired at a technical and vocational school and practical know-how in industries. The dual training pilot course has come in at the opportune time as TEVETA has a goal to broaden equitable access to TEVET according to the TEVETA Strategic Plan (2018-2023). In order to increase the spectrum of TEVET opportunities the plan recognizes Dual Training as one of the best systems as it involves industry participation in training planning and implementation.

The pilot also seeks to attest to combining and collapsing levels and minimizing the time frame for the implementation of TEVET. Upon completion of the one-year training, the students undergoing the pilot training will sit for level 1 and 2 exams.

The Chamber of Skilled Crafts of Koblenz is supporting the Pilot course through the German Malawian Partnership under the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The TEVET Authority entered into a partnership with the Chamber of Skilled Crafts of Koblenz, Germany in November 2019. The project aims at improving the relevance of TEVET through the practical application of skills in the industry of Malawi. In this context, the project is targeting the improvement of Electrical Installation and Electronics (EIE) by developing a level 4 program, piloting the Dual VET course in Welding and Fabrication, offering demand-driven training in General Fitting and improving interaction and involvement of Industry in TEVET.