The Scotland Malawi Partnership, launched with the support of the Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow 2004, was developed in response to the belief that there was a need to bring together everyone in Scotland who are engaged in fostering and developing links between Scotland and Malawi.

Since the Scotland Malawi Partnership was re-established in 2005, the schools in Scotland have been the most enthusiastic and pioneering participants, and there are hundreds of pupils across Scotland who are making friendships in Malawi which will last them a lifetime.

Springburn Academy is currently establishing links with Chichiri Secondary School in Blantyre, Malawi. Chichiri Secondary School has 1,050 pupils with only 70 qualified teachers, 24 classrooms and extremely limited resources like textbooks, stationary, and equipment. Pupils walk on average over 6 kilometres (nearly 4 miles) to and from school every day and have no school meal entitlement.

Secondary education must be paid for in Malawi and many parents and pupils cannot afford this, which means that much of the population is not educated beyond primary level. Education is the key to reducing the number of people in poverty, currently estimated at more than 80 percent of the population. Not only do we need to support the infrastructure, but we also need to improve the quality of education being delivered.

In March 2013, Mrs Ervine (Headteacher) will be visiting Chichiri Secondary School for one week to establish educational links. Following on from this, in June 2013, two teachers will be visiting Malawi for 4 weeks on a fact-finding mission and laying the foundations for this important project and link between the two schools. It is our goal to send groups of pupils over to Malawi in 2014 to work with pupils and teachers to help improve teaching and learning, with the aim of continuing this for years to come.

Fundraising and support from the community is crucial to this project. The link below is for a Virgin Money council-run donation website, which allows for donations to be made to this project. If you would like to donate, please ensure that "Springburn Academy" is mentioned in the text attached to the donation. Gift Aid is available.

Web site address: uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MaureenMcKenna