Some decades ago, majority of people in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, looked up to Makata Industrial Area for employment as labourers. Likewise, people from Lilongwe, Malawi’s Capital City, hung their employment hopes on Kanengo Industrial area where they would earn money as labourers. With passage of time, things have changed as the job opportunities in these areas have declined due to either population boom or closure of some companies. Indeed, some companies have closed because of economic turbulence. Unemployment in formal sector has forced more people to venture into non-formal sector. Going around trading centres and rural areas in Malawi, eyes catch a lot of artisans such as blacksmiths, tinsmiths, bricklayers, hairdressers, barbers, tailors, shoe repairers and carpenters. African governments should not give a blind eye to non-formal education. People drop out of formal education for several reasons. The best that governments can do is to find means of sharpening the already existing skills among the players in the non-formal pool. In addition, governments should bring more vocational skills to more people mainly in rural areas. Non-formal education seeks to address the limitations of formal education that do not reach all communities and do not provide all new competencies and capabilities that are essential for the integrated development of communities. The role of non-formal education becomes even more relevant in the context of developing countries where significant asymmetries in access to education emerge. An interesting part of non-formal sector is that the skills are always and instantly flowing from one generation to the other. Most of the youths learn a particular skill from their parents or close relations. This means there is sustainability of the acquired skills. This is not the same with formal education in which a university graduate goes to the grave with his or her academic papers because his education is not transferable to his or her children or siblings. The existing technical schools demand, as a minimum entry qualification, a Junior Certificate of Education, obtained after two years of secondary education; while the rural trade schools require at least eight years of primary school education. This effectively excludes all those who never had any formal education or had only a few years. However, if rural poverty is to be alleviated, the youths, who are the next generation of adults, should be equipped with the capacity to earn a cash income. This could be done by training them in marketable skills. Since no formal training institutions will admit them, these skills would have to be obtained through a non-formal apprenticeship system linked to the functional literacy programme. An apprentice should be able to read, write and do simple calculations since many trades demand these skills. According to the Malawi 2063 First Ten Year Implementation Plan annual report for 2023-2024, Malawi's national literacy rate has improved from 68.6% in 2020, to 75.5% in 2023. That is a remarkable improvement, despite the gender differences that show a 14% gap, with male literacy at 83%, and female literacy at 68.8%. The national goal is to raise the rate to 81%. While Malawi celebrates this milestone, it is important to add more gears by providing non-formal vocational skills to those who graduate from functional literacy classes. Looking around Africa, a number of countries have developed national policies and strategies on Adult Education. These documents articulate well issues on literacy and non-formal education. However, this is not enough if it will not translate into sharpening the youths and adults with necessary skills. For example, Malawi launched the National Adult Literacy and Education Policy; and the National Adult Literacy and Education Strategic Plan (2022-2027). These are good documents as they can be a great stepping stone to reach out the non-formal players with the much needed help. The help is none other than polishing up their already existing skills; and training the new rural artisans. Such important documents should not gather dust in the offices; officers across of stakeholders should be turning each page of the Policy and the Strategy to see how the contents can benefit someone willing to have a vocational skill. The non-formal education is the future of developing countries. Recently, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) launched the National Financial Literacy and Capability Strategy (2024-2030). This document should not just be for decoration; rather there must be robust implementation of its contents so that it should benefit the target groups which include the non-formal sector. Apart from acquiring various skills, players in the non-formal sector should also be drilled in financial literacy. In 2014, the RBM conducted a representative baseline survey on financial literacy and financial capability. The survey revealed that only 17.0% of adults were using formal financial services and products whereas 53.0% were using informal. This was to a larger part attributed to limited knowledge on basic financial issues. The Strategy should therefore be implemented with non-formal sector in mind because it is disadvantaged in terms of basic financial knowledge. The author is a Human Rights Activist in Malawi. Photo: The author.