Balancing CDF Drive with Needs of the TEVET System
By Michelo Maunga Since assuming office in 2021, the UPND Government has progressively raised allocations to the Constituency Development Fund. From a meagre K1.6 million, as at 2024, each constituency is due to receive K30.8 million. Going by the recent trajectory, it is expected that this allocation may well rise once more in the 2025 National Budget. CDF has 3 components; namely, Community Projects, Youth & Women Empowerment and Secondary School & Skills Bursaries. 60% of the fund goes to Community projects whilst the remaining 40% is split equally between empowerment and education programs. The implication of this is that there will be and has been an influx of students in the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship training system. The question that remains, however, is whether the TEVET system is able to absorb the demand that has been created for skills development. This author believes without addressing the bottlenecks in the skills development framewo