Scotland share with Malawi experiences in education
Young people in Malawi and Scotland need to benefit more from new efforts to strengthen links between the two countries’ education systems, the Scottish Government has said .
According to a statement from the Malawi-Scotland Partnership office in Lilongwe, Scottish Government’s Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages, Alasdair Allan, said this in Edinburgh, Scotland, when he opened a conference that brought together learners, teachers and education leaders who are connected with Malawi and want to support links with the country.
The conference took place as a learning opportunity to raise awareness and recognise the needs of both Malawi and Scotland.
It was led and facilitated by the youth members of the Scotland- Malawi Partnership and the Malawi Young Leaders for Learning from Glasgow City Council.
“This is an opportunity to share our knowledge and experience of education in both countries and to build on this and make a bigger difference to the learning experiences of our young people,” Allan said.
He expressed happiness that there is strong collaboration between schools, teachers and young people across Malawi and Scotland, nations whose ties date as far back as 1859.
Said the minister: “I am pleased to say a five-year agreement has been signed between our two countries which will concentrate on building capacity and sustainability across the Malawi education system for the long-term. The agreement affirms our joint vision for education cooperation.”
He was referring to the agreement, based upon the sharing of experiences and skills that was signed in January this year between Education Scotland and Malawi’s Directorate of Inspection and Advisory Services (Dias) in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
The Scottish connection with Malawi goes back to Dr David Livingstone in 1859. Among the striking themes were the need to achieve a genuinely mutual learning partnership in spite of huge differences in resourcing and the temptation to be prescriptive rather than allow a partnership to evolve on its own terms.
