Appeal target £90,000

BTIT Malawi School Project

BTIT has a vision to establish a primary school in Malawi that will provide access to education for approximately 350–400 children who currently have limited or no access to formal schooling.

The proposed school will provide a safe and supportive learning environment where children can receive a quality education and develop the skills needed to build a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

In addition to its educational purpose, BTIT hopes that the school will also serve as a Madrassah outside school hours, providing Islamic education and helping to nurture the faith and character of the next generation. Subject to planning, funding, and local requirements, the school complex may also include a purpose-built Masjid to support worship, community engagement, and Islamic learning.

BTIT is currently exploring opportunities to work with local organisations, educational providers, and community stakeholders in Malawi to help deliver and sustain the project. No formal partnership agreements have been entered into at this stage.

The estimated cost of the project is approximately £90,000. In sha Allah, we hope to undertake this project over the coming years with the help of Allah (SWT) and the support of our donors and community.

We ask Allah (SWT) to make this project a source of ongoing benefit (Sadaqah Jariyah) for all those involved and for the generations who may benefit from it.

The rough estimate of this project is £90,000. In sha Allah, we are hoping to undertake this project over the coming years with the help of Allah (SWT).

Project Update

BTIT recently reviewed the wording of this project page and identified that it referred to certain organisations as potential project partners. Whilst discussions and research regarding possible collaboration had been considered, no formal agreements had been established.

To ensure complete accuracy and transparency, references to specific organisations have been removed. We apologise for any misunderstanding this may have caused and remain committed to providing clear and accurate information regarding all BTIT projects and initiatives.

Correction Notice: BTIT wishes to clarify that neither Bilal Trust Malawi nor Dedza Welfare Trust are currently affiliated with BTIT or the proposed Malawi School Project. We apologise for any misunderstanding or inconvenience caused by earlier references to these organisations and have updated this page to accurately reflect the current position.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. It is among the world’s least-developed countries. Life expectancy is less than 50 years old. Inequality is a huge problem, with the richest 20 per cent of the population using nearly half of all goods and services.

Population: Around 16 million people live in Malawi

Religion: Christian 82.7%, Muslim 13%, other 1.9%.

It also has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the region. Tens of thousands of Malawians die of Aids every year. After years of silence, the authorities spoke out about the crisis. A programme to tackle HIV-Aids was launched in 2004, with President Muluzi revealing that his brother had died from the disease.

Most primary schools in Malawi are very basic, lacking the most fundamental resources, including textbooks and basic teaching materials. Although many primary schools have brick classroom blocks, many students learn outside in temporary structures, making teaching impossible during the rainy season. It is extremely unusual for primary schools to have access to electricity.

Although the government of Malawi provides government-paid teachers, there are rarely enough teachers for each primary school, and often not even enough teachers for each school year class. For example in the Nkhata Bay District of Malawi, the average student to teacher ratio for primary schools is 96:1, when the government of Malawi recommends 60:1 (and even this is very high!).

The shortage of teachers in Malawi is due to two main reasons. Firstly, there are not enough trained teachers who have completed all their necessary qualifications to go around, and, secondly, primary schools in Malawi must provide teachers’ houses to attract good teachers to their school. Teachers’ houses can be very expensive to build but, without them, it is impossible to attract new teachers to the area. (There are just 536 teachers’ houses for 1,500 teachers in the Nkhata Bay District between both primary and secondary school, meaning that roughly three teachers have to share one teacher’s house across the education sector in Nkhata Bay!)

BTIT’s Vision

We urge all brothers and sisters to donate towards our biggest ever ‘School in a Box’ project in Malawi-Africa.