Junior Certificate Exam (JCE), 2nd year exam. Mitsidi Staff were quite pleased National pass rate 77.61%. with having had five teachers taken Mitsidi CDSS 65 passed (>86%) away, leaving them very short of SVPSS 86 passed (>67%) teaching Staff. A girl got the best Sponsored students 20 passed (100%) mark.

Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE), final, SVPSS. More than 50% of their students exam.National pass rate 58.44% but 53.9% for CDSS. did not do well enough in Primary Mitsidi CDSS 24 passed (>46%) School exam to get offer of Secondary SVPSS 115 passed (>58%) education, so the students here can Sponsored students 6 passed (>66%) not be compared with other students.

We bought 23 refurbished computers from the charity ComputerAid.org , 7 for Mitsidi CDSS and 16 for SVPSS. They eventually cleared duty free from Customs in Malawi. Each school will use one computer for storing information and for school exams. The computers can be used in class as a teaching aid. Computing skills are a valuable asset in looking for employment. Computing is also a subject that can be chosen for MSCE; SVPSS have a teacher qualified to teach this.

MITSIDI CDSS----->

The big news is the building of a kitchen to give students and Staff a mug of porridge each morning. As far as we know, we are only the third Day Secondary School in the whole of Malawi to do this. It is greatly appreciated by the students. It is hoped that it will improve attendance, punctuality, concentration in class and exam results. 

There was a formal opening event with local dignitaries invited. A Representative from the South West division of Education cut the ribbon.

  Some students live 12 Km away. They miss 2 hours of classes each morning, arrive hot/wet/tired or all three. A funding application is being made for a girls’ hostel. Meanwhile, we have started to build a boys’ hostel to be used by the girls in the interim.

The Education Division Manager suggested a stone laying event in October 2025 for the boys’ hostel and involved Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). An ex-Mitsidi student spotted this (photo left) on MBC Digital in Facebook and circulated it.

SVPSS----->

This school opened in January 2021 after we had built two classrooms, a septic tank, two toilet blocks, a hostel for female boarders and a kitchen for preparing food for boarders. Since then we have built a triple classroom block, two laboratories, a library another triple classroom block and had another manual borehole drilled. There are currently 463 students enrolled.

The latest triple classroom block means that the students are far less cramped in class. The school has been assessed and approved as a National exam hub, so students can now sit both their written and practical exams there rather than having to travel to a strange school.

The downside to having National exams taking place at the school is the impact on other classes, some of which have to take place outside. A hall to be used for exams, for school events and for renting out would be an asset.

Scotia Education Trust was founded in December 2010. Its mission is to support education as the route out of poverty.

The Trust aims to support education in rural locations close to Blantyre (a large city in southern Malawi), by investing in and managing specific projects with the provision of:-

• equipment for lessons

• buildings and basic infrastructure for schools

• school fees and other costs for sponsorship

At present, we are supporting:-

Mitsidi Community Day Secondary School (CDSS)

• We have been building St. Vincent de Paul Secondary School (SVPSS)

• Secondary education for students from needy backgrounds. The school fees are paid directly to the schools.

The Trust has minimal operating costs - mainly bank charges. Administration by unpaid volunteers (with professional backgrounds and much experience of working and living in Malawi) means donations go to the cause. 

The Trust ensures funds are spent as expected. We work with people long known to us, obtaining quotations, bank statements to show receipt of funds in Malawian Kwacha (sent as GBP), receipts of payments and report of work completed to satisfaction before the final payment. Photographs corroborate the other evidence. The areas of our schools are well known to us after visiting many times.

We usually use local contractors known to us for many years for major building projects as well as local carpenters, welders, electricians and borehole driller. This provides employment and income for Malawians, as well as maintaining their skills. For our sponsorship programme, we are associated with Joshua Orphan and Community Care (UK Registered Charity 1114727) who do the work on the ground in Malawi for us.

Sponsorship, recent projects and earlier reports are on other pages via the menus.

You can learn more about Malawi and you can contact us by scrolling to the bottom of the page where there is an email address.

The Autum 2024 Update for Supporters can be found here.

Nansengwe Primary School which we supported for four years can be seen here.

Chiraweni Primary School which we supported for eight years can be seen here.

We are currently supporting 85 students from needy backgrounds in Secondary education. Parents often have minimal Primary education, one or both parents may have died. Survival is based on growing maize perhaps with a few hens and a goat. Without the ability to earn money, even purchase of exercise books, pens, school uniform and shoes for a student is beyond their means. Students are currently supported at Lunzu (boarding), Zingwangwe (in Blantyre), Joshua and Mitsidi Secondary Schools. A substantial walk can be involved in getting to and home from the last three schools.

One of our first cohort of students was employed for several years as a Radiographer at Queen Elizabeth Central hospital in Blantyre, the largest hospital in Malawi. In 2024, he applied for training in Radiotherapy to the International Atomic Energy Agency and was successful. He is now in Ghana for two years training in radiotherapy after which, he will be expected to return to Malawi.

Several ex-sponsored students are now in Higher Education doing University degrees with a little help from us (fees or equivalent money towards living costs). To our knowledge, most of our ex-sponsored students are working and are out of the subsistence living poverty trap of their elders.