The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) enables people to grow spiritually, to thrive physically and to have a voice in an unjust world.As an Anglican mission agency, USPG does this alongside churches and communities around the world, providing the resources - people, money and ideas - that they define as necessary to meet local needs.
USPG’s work involves pastoral care, social action and supporting training programmes.USPG encourage parishes in Britain and Ireland to participate in mission through fundraising and prayer, and by setting up links with our projects around the world. Since 2004 the Parish Church community of Old Brampton have supported financially and prayerfully the USPG Mission Project within the Diocese of Upper Shire, namely St Michael’s Secondary School for Girls, in Malindi, and Malosa Secondary School.
Education is the route to a full life
The hope in Malawi is that a good education will lead to well-paid employment. |
School pupils in Malindi
There are also difficulties in getting to school. The journey can be a long one and the land might be impassable during the wet season. So children go to school when they can – and must pass the end of year exam in order to advance to the next year. It is not uncommon to find a wide range of pupils in the same class, with perhaps a six-year-old sitting next to an 18-year-old.
USPG missionary Anne Rigby, a teacher at Malosa Secondary School, said: ‘Education is incredibly important because it could lead to a job and money to support the family. However, few youngsters have the opportunity to go to secondary school because it is too expensive for them and places are scarce. So those who come to us realise they are very fortunate.’
One girl at St Michael’s wrote: ‘I am grateful for my education. It is everything to me. If you grow up without being able to read or write or learn about the world, it’s like living in a box: being in the dark and cut off. When I leave school I want to go to college and get a degree. I would like to become an accountant and maybe I could help my country and play a part in improving the economy.’
All secondary schools charge fees – primary schools are free. There are three types of secondary school: government supported day and boarding, and independent private schools. Most of the teachers in the Community Day Secondary schools are unqualified. Approximately 30% of secondary school age children attend school, and of these, 60% are boys and 40% girls.
A look at Malosa Secondary School with its 480 students helps us see some of the challenges. St Michael’s Girls’ Secondary School at Malindi faces similar problems.
Fees per year are £84, which nearly all students struggle to find, a number being sent home for non-payment, which is heart-breaking. The Government pays teachers’ salaries – the Headteacher’s salary is £108 per month. There should be 25 teachers but there are only 15. There is a chronic shortage of qualified teachers, partly due to the number dying from HIV/AIDS and malaria, and partly because insufficient are being trained.
Income from school fees have to cover: support staff salaries; electricity; water; building maintenance; text books - Year 3 with 134 students shares 7 textbooks on agriculture, a compulsory subject; computers - 14 are shared between students and staff;. food. The total annual budget for these items is £42,160.
Malosa Secondary School
Extracts from a letter from a student at Malosa:
“It’s another scorching hot day. In the fields the earth is cracking under the sun, the air is dry and the maize is wilting. Unless it rains soon my father will lose another crop.
If my family can’t grow enough food we won’t have any surplus to sell, and that means there will be no money to pay for me to go to school. I’m lucky that my father believes girls should be educated. Most families round here only send their sons to secondary school.
Many of my friends have lost one or both their parents. No one wants to talk about it, but we all know they died because of AIDS. It’s really bad for children being brought up by their grandparents. Often the old people live in the hills. They do their best, but when food is given out they are too old to walk to the distribution stations, so they go hungry.
Here at school we get just enough food to keep our tummies from feeling hungry. The school has to guard its store of maize because hungry people will do anything to get food. At lunch time the poor kids who can’t afford to come to school come to our classrooms begging for food. They want our leftovers. We try to find them something, but there is so little to go round.
I am grateful for my education. It is everything to me. If you grow up without being able to read or write or learn about the world, it’s like living in a box: being in the dark and cut off. When I leave school I want to go to college and get a degree. I would like to become an accountant and maybe I could help my country and play a part in improving the economy.”
