President Lazarus Chakwera has challenged the Chancellor College academic staff to return the institution to its founding vision of producing quality graduates to ensure that it maintains being the center of excellence.

Dr Chakwera made the remarks at Chancellor College Great Hall in Zomba on Thursday where he was installed as the Sixth Chancellor of the University of Malawi (Unima) and also presided over the graduation ceremony of 461 education, nursing and midwifery students.

Chakwera was in a cohort of the first students to enroll at the institution when it first opened its doors in 1973.

He said: “This is the college which shakes me most, I therefore challenge the council of this university to return the institution to its founding vision of producing graduates who have quality and not just qualification to ensure that it maintains being the center of excellence.”

Chakwera said the excellence of the institution can only be measured by the quality of the graduates and the development they advance in the country rather than just their qualifications.

In his message to the graduates, the President urged them to be “job creators and not job seekers” so that they can also employ others.

In his remarks, Acting Unima Vice Chancellor Professor Ali Mtenje bemoaned that the 2020 academic year has been greatly hampered by Covid-19 pandemic.

Of the graduating students who have received degrees, diplomas and certificates, 128 were males while 333 were females.