President for the Society Dr. Tsirizani Kaombe said this on Thursday in Blantyre during the symposium which the society held.

Kaombe said to address the challenge, young people must be encouraged in mathematics and statistics at school.

“We have very few statisticians and mathematicians, especially those who are well trained. They are not even 1 percent. The output in terms of publications is also very low. We need to do more.

“We need to motivate the young ones so that they are engaged and they should be part of the solution to the challenges of Malawi in terms mathematical and statistical research,” he said.

Dr. Kaombe added that the symposium is part of the solutions to the challenge.

“The symposium helps to showcase how research can be used to answer health challenges of Malawi,” he said.

Director of science, technology and innovation in the ministry of education, Professor Chomola Mikeka, says such gatherings are key to the Malawi 2063 development aspirations of the country.

“Key and foremost is building human capital. Malawi 2063 vision says that it is critical that we build capacity of the nation for its wealth is built on human capital. That can only be done on education, skills development, research, innovation and science and technology aspect including health and nutrition.

“Ministry of education is focusing on education, skills development and also science, technology and innovation as prior effects which can build the nation and statistics and data science which we are seeing here is of paramount importance to the national development agenda,” he said.

The symposium also offers an excellent opportunity for local IBS members to come together and share their work and rehearse their talks for the IBS Sub Saharan Africa Region conference slated for 11 – 15 September, 2023 in Ghana.