Cutting Edge

My first visit in Malawi this morning was to the Kumbali Kindergarten. It was lovely - full of the joy of learning and doing new things.

Along with a number of other schools , catering for various age groups, it is experimenting with the use of iPods and iPads in very busy classrooms to establish basic numeracy and to draw young people into learning. Some of the practice is cutting edge stuff, finding new ways to teach and learn in the most difficult of situations. The Scottish Government has been funding access to apps (Masamu 1 & 2) developed by Eurotalk , translated for the purpose. We have also been supporting some access to hardware.

After a visit to the New State House Primary - 1275 children with 16 teachers and undertaking the same type of pilot work with what are called, with no sense of irony, gadgets ( a term used in both Chichewe & English) - I then had the privilege of being received by the President of Malawi, Her Excellency Mrs Joyce Banda at State House itself.

She was accompanied by her Foreign Secretary, Education Minister and Environment Minister and we had a very detailed and positive discussion covering the overall relationship between the countries, the David Livingstone Bi-Centenary next year , Renewables, Education, Women's Health and Civic Governance.

This evening the UK High Commission is hosting a dinner for Ministers at which I expect further examination of the work we are doing on these and other issues.