Primary education is free but not compulsory. Children attending primary school are generally between the ages of six and 14 with many girls having to leave early due to teenage pregnancies.
Two of our partners have set up primary schools to educate the children in Mangochi: Thom and his Colourful Classroom and Rita and Bolera Palm School. They have very few resources, so we provide them with discontinued reading schemes, teacher training support and most recently, personal protective equipment against the Covid-19 virus.
Back to primary school
Thom and Rita invite us back to their schools - Thom's Colourful Classroom and Bolera Palm Schools - for lessons in singing and recycling.
Aaron checking in on Thom and his Colourful Classroom
... And then on to see Rita at Bolera Palm
Every kid loves paired reading, big and small!
Kuti village primary schools
After our visit to Kuti last year, the first time we had been to the area, we struck up a relationship with the local school there. We have been back to help with PPE and are hoping to return soon with much-needed sports equipment.
Connecting classrooms around the world
We are working with schools across Edinburgh as part of the British Council's Connecting Classrooms initiative. The British Council want to encourage pupils' understanding of the bigger issues that shape our world and equip them with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to make a positive contribution. So far, we have established connections between Bruntsfield Primary and Bolera Palms, Tynecastle High School and MCV and GWC with St Andrews International School.
Delivering PPE
Earlier this year, Aaron and Paul sourced some PPE and spent a couple of days delivering the equipment to all our partner schools.