'This trip has changed lives': Glasgow teachers project links city schools with Malawi

“It was an article about the very first Malawi Leaders of Learning trip,” smiles Maureen, who retired as Director of Education at Glasgow City Council earlier this year.

“I put it on Facebook, and the response was lovely. One young person, who had come with us in 2015, said the Malawi trip had changed his life.”

She pauses. “To think you have been involved in something life-changing…that’s really wonderful.”

This year marks the 10th anniversary of that first trip, part of a two-way training and charity scheme which links teachers, headteachers, school and council staff in Glasgow with their counterparts in the East African country with the aim of sharing resources and expertise.

The first group in 2012.

A spin-off scheme, Malawi Young Leaders of Learning (MYLOL) saw a number of different school groups go out over the years to work with their peers in Malawian secondary schools.

MLOL was the first of its kind in the UK when it launched in 2011, explains Maureen, growing out of strong links already forged by Holyrood Secondary pupils and their headteacher at the time, Tom McDonald.

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“Holyrood had been fundraising for children in Malawi for years, and some pupils had gone out to help build classrooms,” says Maureen. “But Tom and I had a discussion about it and there was a feeling we could be doing something more.

“That’s where it began. I went out and met the indomitable Sister Eunice, the nun in charge of the education department. She took me on a tour, and together we really saw the potential of a partnership between Scotland and Malawi.”

That partnership has grown every year since, funding libraries to improve literacy, and helping girls who would otherwise have to return to their villages to stay in education by sponsoring their fees and board.

Later this month, the latest crop of teaching and support staff will make their way out to Malawi following a two-and-a-half-year break due to Covid.

“It’s fantastic to be getting out there again, finally," says Maureen. "The last time we were there was in February 2020, just before the world stopped.

“We had set out a plan for 2019 to 2024 and while much of it is still relevant, we had to make some changes. Similar to countries across the world, Malawian learners have had their learning disrupted, teachers and headteachers have had their work pattern disrupted and staff have changed, so there is work to do.”

MLOL is a charity and the trip is paid for by fundraising. A small amount of government funding allowed Malawian teachers to come to Glasgow several years ago, but, Maureen admits with a roll of her eyes, “the bureaucracy surrounding made it far too difficult, so we gave up”. Otherwise, the teachers save up and fundraise themselves for places on the trips.

Maureen retired in January, but in lieu of retirement gifts, encouraged her colleages to donate to MLOL. “We raised £7000,” she smiles. “That was fantastic. So many people have fundraised for us over the years, which has been really lovely.”

One of the current aims of the project is to support libraries in every primary school in Blantyre, Malawi, and given there are around 220 primary schools with more than 230,000 children, it is an ambitious target.

However, it is a scheme close to Maureen’s heart, and one she is particularly keen to get right.

“We have taken out lots of books for the libraries – but culturally appropriate ones,” she says, firmly.

“We have been clear since the start that teachers can’t just pack up their old Biff and Chip reading books and ship them out – those would have absolutely no value whatsoever in Malawi.

“The children in Blantyre want to read books about children who look like them, who live in houses like them. If a teacher was to show a group of Glasgow children a book in Chichewan, the national language of Malawi, would it be of any use whatsoever?”

She pauses, exasperated. “No, of course not. So it makes me so cross when I go into a school library over there and see totally inappropriate books from America and Britain.

“We purchase a lot of books out there, which supports the local economy too, and likewise, we print a lot of our learning materials in Malawi.”

The benefits of MLOL are not one-way, says Maureen, who believes learning and teaching has improved in Glasgow as well as in Malawi, as a result of the project.

“Being part of this scheme allows a teacher to hone his or her skills,” she explains. “You’re not sitting in a classroom with 30 children, all at their desks, with fancy tech gizmos and lots of resources.

“Classes in Malawi have 150, 200 children and they often sit on the floor, all crammed into one room. There are no tablets and smart screens to rely on – the mobile library is a shopping basket full of books, which moves outside, where the pupils sit under the tree. All the teachers have is their craft.”

She adds: “That’s very valuable professional learning.”

On the 2022 trip, Maureen is planning to meet up with Sister Eunice, who is now retired.

“It will be nice to catch up,” she smiles. “I love how much teachers get out of this trip. There are many who have made repeat trips. One of the teachers on the first trip, Marie Breckenridge, is going out again this year and she is retired, and almost 70.”

Maureen adds: “Africa gets under your skin. Once you go, you always want to go back.”