A consortium of the Education Faculties of Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Paisley, Stirling, and the University of Strathclyde, developed and implemented the first BEd (Primary Degree) in Malawi.
The project was funded by the Scottish government, with the Education Faculties contributing 50% of the academic staffing costs.
The degree, initially aimed at teacher trainers and primary advisers, was taught by University of Malawi staff at Chancellor College in Zomba.
Seven staff from Chancellor College were funded by the Malawi Millennium Project to come to Scotland to study for a postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Professional Studies, with a focus on primary education.
The distinctive feature of the course was that it was designed with the sole purpose of equipping this group with the skills to design and, with initial support, deliver a BEd top-up degree, appropriate for primary teacher trainers in Malawi. Those who attained the BEd spoke very effusively of how it had improved their standards of teaching.