This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Africa Challenge for Scottish Schools
25/02/2005
A unique schools competition to celebrate the special
links between Scotland and Africa was launched today.
Backed by the Hunter Foundation, it is open to all
secondary schools and the prize for the winning team is a
five day trip to Malawi, accompanying the First Minister
during his visit in late May.
The winning team will set up formal links with a Malawi
school and later in 2005, their school will host a visit
from pupils and teachers from the Malawi school.
Speaking to a group of Glasgow secondary pupils in
Holmlea Primary School, where he was joined by entrepreneur
Tom Hunter, First Minister Jack McConnell said:
"This is an important year for Scotland, when the world
leaders gather at Gleneagles for the G8 summit. Their focus
will be poverty and Africa and climate change - issues
which have particular resonance with young Scots.
"There are already strong links between Scottish schools
and Africa, and I want to take this opportunity, when the
world's focus is on Scotland, to strengthen those
links.
"I want to encourage our young people to develop an
international outlook. One that is neither self-serving nor
paternalistic, but recognises the mutual benefit to be
gained from working to improve the lives of people living
in less privileged parts of the world.
"The winning school team will have a unique and
unforgettable experience, but I am sure that the benefits
will extend beyond the winners to the school in Malawi, and
to both their communities.
"I am delighted that the Hunter Foundation has agreed to
help sponsor this special competition. Governments alone
cannot solve the many problems facing the developing world,
and Tom Hunter's commitment to tackling poverty in Africa
continues Scotland's long tradition of international
philanthropy."
Tom Hunter said:
"This is a great chance for Scotland's children to have
their voice heard on the issue of Malawi in particular and
Africa in general.
"Through this and the "Send my Friend to School"
competition I hope Scotland's children will challenge us to
Make Poverty History.
"A child dies every three seconds in the developing
world, that's not a statistic it's a fact- do we as a
nation want to stand back and do nothing about that? If it
was happening in the western world the cheque would be
written today."
The competition is called the Scottish Schools Africa
Challenge and is open to all S1, S2 and S3 pupils. Entries
should explore education for young people in Africa or
investigate the benefits that links with Africa might bring
Scottish pupils.
Work can be presented as:
• a poster up to A2 in size
• a video presentation between one and five minutes in
length
• a music CD no more than five minutes long
• a poem
• an essay or project
• a proposal, no more than five A4 pages long, outlining
a useful project that could be undertaken by young people
during a trip to Africa
The closing date is Thursday, March 31 and the results
will be announced on Friday April 15.
The prize is a one-week visit to Malawi at the end of
May. All costs, and those of the reciprocal visit, will be
met by the Scottish Executive and the Hunter Foundation.
The British Council will organise and supervise the
trip.
Scotland has special links with Malawi, dating back to
the country's association with the Scottish explorer and
missionary David Livingstone, who is still held in high
regard there. The city of Blantyre in Malawi is named after
Livingstone's birthplace in Scotland.
It was David Livingstone who gave the country its
previous name Nyasaland, meaning 'big water land'. Lake
Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa.
Primary 7 pupils at Holmlea school invited the First
Minister to see their Enterprise in Education project,
which involved them collecting aid for an orphanage in
South Africa.