They've got the classrooms... Now what about teachers?

MINGA school has a new science laboratory but no Bunsen burners, a new library without books and classrooms with no chairs.

But none of that matters to the pupils who crowd into the basic brick buildings that serve as classrooms in the school just outside Lilongwe in Malawi simply for the chance to learn.

Together with Bottom Hospital, Minga secondary school was a pet project of Jack McConnell's when he visited Malawi in 2005. But like the hospital, there is still much to do. The children are still sitting on the floor and there are no computers, which is just as well since there is no electricity, either. For 200 pupils there are eight teachers, of whom only half are qualified.

On witnessing such conditions two years ago, Mr McConnell pledged to turn the school around, and he has made a good start. A gleaming new science laboratory and library have been built with £13,000 of Scottish Executive funding and both are now the envy of the district.

Both stand empty without the equipment needed to teach practical science or read books. New textbooks as well as radios, cameras, football boots and balls donated from Scotland were stolen and the school is waiting on various requests for laboratory equipment.

According to the Scottish government, three computers and 200 desks are coming. A delay with the contractors meant the new buildings had not been handed over to the school or had the electricity connected when The Scotsman visited at the end of last month, but both are said to be imminent.

Such delays are the reality of any building project. But for the eager school children, it is a little more difficult to understand.

John Phiri, 42, the headteacher, said he was going to soldier on and teach science in the new laboratory using sticks, stones and whatever else he can find.

"They [the government] are going at a slow pace," he said. "But we understand that. It is something to do with finances."

The science and maths teacher understood the original agreement included a fence around the school and equipment but had to be down-scaled because of costs.

However, he said the new buildings have boosted the number of pupils coming to school. Now he just needs qualified teachers and equipment in order to put them to use.

A request for equipment has been submitted to the government and is being considered.

Mr Phiri added: "It was very great for Mr McConnell to come to the school. We have heard he is coming here for good and that has increased our expectations."

Mr McConnell, the former first minister, has been recruited by the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI) to work on education in Malawi.

As a former teacher, Mr McConnell was struck by the terrible conditions of schools including Minga when he first visited Malawi as first minister in 2005.

He said: "I visited a rural school where youngsters were being taught in a straw hut. If it rained there was no school because it came through the roof. There were no seats, no desks, no blackboard, no pens, no books. There was absolutely nothing.

"But the kids walked miles every day to memorise what the teachers were telling them. It was incredible. There was just such enthusiasm for education, even though it was so badly provided for."

Mr McConnell decided to use his position to help. "It was such a basic level of provision required to make a difference. I thought even a little place like Scotland, if we can pool our resources, our wit and our aid, we can do something to make a difference."

Two years later, Mr McConnell insists Scotland has made a difference, although changes in schools such as Minga will need to be viewed in the long term and need help from other agencies and Malawians themselves.

He said: "There is no point in providing teachers if there are no classrooms and no equipment and no point in providing classrooms and equipment if there are no teachers.

"It is a complex set of problems that needs to be carefully considered and [needs] comprehensive answers - not one-off initiatives; that raises expectations and lets people down."

Mr McConnell has always made clear that his commitment to Malawi is "lifelong" and he will need a lifetime to address some of the country's problems.

Malawi is still suffering from the decision to bring in universal primary education in 1994 without the teachers or buildings to accompany the policy.

The Department for International Development estimates the average pupil-to-teacher ratio is 84 to one, compared to around 15 to one in Scotland, and there are schools in rural areas where teachers look after up to 200 pupils at a time.

AIDS has made the situation worse. It is estimated that the virus kills 6 per cent of teachers every year and a high proportion of the education budget is going on funerals.

Then there is the issue of resources. For example, many teenage girls stop going to school because of a lack of toilet facilities, if they have not already dropped out.

The government has increased the number of teachers in training to try and address the 20,000 shortage but, in the meantime, the country is in need of more immediate help.

In his new role for CHDI, Mr McConnell is looking at education systems around the world for short-term solutions.

Classroom assistants modelled on Scotland's successful programme and distance e-learning used in the Highlands are all ideas being considered.

"It is going to take a generation or more for Malawi to realise real change," he said. "But I think for the first time for a long time, there is hope in Malawi and I hope Scotland has played a part in that and can do more in the years to come."

Mr McConnell said a key benefit of the link with Scotland will be personal connections like his own. He points out school links between Malawi and Scotland have gone from just ten to 100.

In Minga, the link with Sanday school in Orkney has meant pupils from both schools have been able to experience each other's countries. It has also meant that, for the first time in its 11-year history, pupils from Minga have been able to attend higher education with the help of funding from Scotland.

Another example is Global Exchange, a programme that sent Scots and Malawian youngsters aged from 19 to 26 to experience each other's everyday lives in volunteer work.

Mr McConnell said such schemes are changing the face of Scotland. "I think Scotland's involvement with Malawi has made Scotland a better place.

"Our engagement there will not only have helped the Malawians in years to come, but the next generation of Scots will be better global citizens as a result."
Life-swap gives new perspective

FOR Jennifer Nattan, going down to the borehole every day to fetch fresh water for cooking and cleaning will not only give her an improved posture but a realisation of how people in developing countries live.

The 19-year-old Scot has been living in an African homestead for the last three months.

The toilet is a pit latrine and the bathroom is a bucket in a thatched outhouse.

In Edinburgh, Jennifer lived in a four-bedroom house and had her own car. But watching the teenager play with the local children and carry water on her head, it is clear she is at home with her new family.

"Although we are rich in money, they are so much richer in family here," she said.

Miss Nattan is one of nine Scots living in rural Malawi and working in schools or community projects as part of the Global Exchange programme. The scheme, supported by the Scottish government, matches nine 18 to 26-year-olds from Scotland with nine young people from the same age group from Malawi. The 18 young people then live and work in each country for three months. Miss Nattan added: "Although it has been difficult, it has been brilliant."

Three months ago, in Caithness, the culture shock was reversed. Young Malawians experienced hot running water for the first time and learned about Scottish table manners. But they also saw the other side of living in Britain by volunteering in deprived communities.

Voluntary Services Overseas, the charity behind Global Exchange, says it is a move away from the "colonial" idea of sending young Brits to help the "Third World". Rather, young people come back with a balanced view of the challenges in both of their countries.
CULTURE SHOCK OF 200-STRONG CLASSES

CAROLINE Pitcairn's first sight of a Malawian classroom came as a shock. The 27-year-old teacher was not only surprised to find teachers taking classes of up to 200 pupils but noticed the children sitting on the floor were smaller than her pupils in West Lothian.

"The size of classes is the shocking thing, and the children not having a pencil but having to share," she says. "The children are lovely but some of them are much smaller than the kids back home. It is heart-breaking."

The tall redhead has caused quite a stir herself, turning up on a motorbike at the rural school she visits as part of her job as a teacher trainer with Voluntary Services Overseas. Her job is to help Malawian teacher trainers to train thousands of teachers in a new curriculum, moving away from "chalk and talk" to a more western idea of teaching children. She is also introducing innovative ideas on using local resources like bottle tops in under-resourced schools.

"It is moving away from teaching pupils just to write things down to learning things for themselves," she says.

But Ms Pitcairn will also have learned a lot herself to pass on to to her pupils when she returns home. "I will have better skills when I get home for getting ideas across, training others and teaching," she says.