MUST plans to venture into assembly of laptops and tablets

MUST team led by Prof Malata at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology being shown the assembly line

* Laptops and tablets have become part of a student’s life, especially at higher education level and they need to be within reach of all students

* Once we put up the assembly line, we will be good to go because we already know where to import the parts and the costs involved

By Duncan Mlanjira

In moving forward as a science and technology high learning institution, Malawi University of Science & Technology (MUST) has plans to start assembling laptops and tablets as one way of making them more affordable on the local market.

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When breaking the news, MUST Vice-Chancellor Professor Address Malata, said laptops and tablets have become part of a student’s life, especially at higher education level and they need to be within reach of all students.

Prof.Malata said the university has already held discussions with government, through the Ministry of Education and other partners, on how best the project can be rolled out.

“Our analysis so far has shown that we do not need much,” she said. “Once we put up the assembly line, we will be good to go because we already know where to import the parts and the costs involved.”

She added that as a leading university in science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, MUST has decided to bridge the gap that is making most gadgets beyond the reach of some students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We noted during the CoVID-19 pandemic that, much as the university was ready to transfer teaching and learning to online platforms, some of our students could not participate due to lack of gadgets and as a university we had to support with some gadgets.

“That is not sustainable. We believe, long term, we just have to make these gadgets more affordable by assembling them locally.”

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She further said MUST was inspired by what Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology was doing in Kenya, where they are also into laptop and tablet assembly.

“We visited them recently and realised that this is something we can easily do. Apart from helping to bring the cost down, this is an entrepreneurship opportunity for the university as this will be run as an independent business unit with potential to grow into other areas such as maintenance and service and also assembling of other gadgets,” she said.

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The assembling plant, when commissioned, will also create a platform for some students, especially in engineering, to have hands on experience through jobs.

Some students will also be working in the assembly plant as part of their internship.

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