Teacher to make a return trip to Malawi

A LOCAL head teacher is to go back to Malawi to help develop village schools.

Maureen Miller, head teacher at Keiss and Canisbay primary schools, will be leaving Edinburgh on Friday, June 29, to spend her summer holiday working to improve education in the African country.

Maureen and her husband, Roger Bamfield, an advisory teacher for the Autism Outreach Service in Dingwall, are the only teachers from the North of Scotland joining 16 central Scotland colleagues as part of the Global Teachers Programme (GTP), run by international agency Link Community Development.

The programme provides Scottish teachers and head teachers with a challenging, rewarding and motivating professional and personal development experience.

The couple spent a short time in Malawi last year and have decided to return for a longer spell this time round. They will live and work in two different village communities, where there is no running water or electricity. They are going to work with staff at their village schools helping to develop leadership, management and teaching practice.

They will also learn a lot themselves as they will be living in the local community and stretching their own professional skills.

The programme lasts 15 months and the highlight for Maureen and Roger will be their five-week placement in LCD's school improvement project. The GTP and the Scotland-Malawi School Improvement Project are supported by the Scottish Executive's education department.

Maureen said: "Last year we had an opportunity to spend a short time in Malawian schools.

"We usually spend the summer holiday taking things easy but when we were offered the opportunity to take part in LCD's brilliant Global Teachers Programme, living in and working with a Malawian community for several weeks, we had to take it up. It is a chance to give and also learn so much, both in Malawi and on our return to Scotland."

Maureen, who is looking to raise £2000 towards the cost of this placement in Malawi, hopes to help Scottish and Malawian children form links so they can learn about each others' lives.

Global citizenship is one of the current key developments in Scottish education and the head teacher is keen that Keiss and Canisbay schools develop formal links with those in Malawi through the LCD's Link Schools Programme which offers ongoing support to the partner schools.

Following his placement, Roger plans to work in Highland to help raise awareness amongst children, including those with autism, of global development issues in Malawi.

To support Maureen or Roger through Link Community Development in Scotland, log on to http://www.justgiving.com/caithnessglobalteacher or http://www.justgiving.com/highlandglobalteacher. For more information about Link Community Development visit http://www.lcd.org.uk