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We believe that our relationship with Malawi provides our students with an interest that could enrich the rest of their lives while at the same time, providing our partner schools with useful connections and access to essential materials.
Education in Malawi
Education in Malawi
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.
Secondary education developed late in Malawi, primarily as a result of insufficient focus during the colonial era. There are only 1,411 secondary schools compared with 6,065 primary schools and these are all fee-paying. As a result, only a quarter of Malawi's youth attend secondary school and the labour market is desperately under-skilled.
We have strong relationships with village primary schools in Mangochi (Bolera Palms and Thom's Colourful Classrooms) and Kuti Village as well as with Malawi Children's Village and Steka secondary schools and the British Council's Connecting Classrooms Cluster. We are also very committed to our work with Tina Pads to help girls stay at school for longer with washable sanitary pads. For more information, scroll below.
Keeping girls in school
Keeping girls in school
Challenging the taboo on menstruation to keep more girls at school for longer. Every year, we purchase reusable sanitary pads from local tailors to distribute to girls in school. But that's not always enough to keep girls in school. We take the opportunity to discuss in person the challenges around hygiene, discretion and keeping the pads clean. Peer-to-peer discussion is proving to be one of the best aids to breaking this taboo that stops girls attending school.
Primary school support
Primary school support
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 general support when they need it. The children at Bolera Palm recently achieved the highest scores in the national literacy exams.
Countering white saviourism
Countering white saviourism
We are working with STEKA Skills on a new model of dignified 'voluntourism' to ensure a respectful dialogue between marginalised young people in Malawi and Scottish school pupils.Pupils from both countries were also given the opportunity to engage in dialogue on a range of issues relating to the Sustainable Development Goals such as climate action and gender inequality. More >>
Returning to Malawi
Returning to Malawi
Heidi Floydd spent three months in Blantyre with St Andrews International Secondary school during her gap year and Alistair Sandiland chose Blantyre for his elective. If you are interested in returning to Malawi and would like some help arranging your trip, get in touch!
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