Rihanna and Julia Gillard Went to Malawi to Teach Maths, But Some of It Was Wrong

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Firstly, let’s just say that it is entirely admirable that Rihanna and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, as ambassadors for the Global Partnership of Education, visited Malawi to shine a light on the issues faced by students in one of the poorest countries in the world.

And it’s important to note that a recent video, highlighting their trip, alerts you to the following facts about Malawi and its students:

1. Fifty per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.

2. The average income is around 90 cents a day.

3. Some classes contain 100 students, to just one teacher.

4. Many children go to school having not eaten; they also can’t expect food at home, afterwards.

5. Due to a lack of classrooms, some classes take place outside, even during rainy season.

6. Students sometimes travel 13 – 15km a day to get to class, due to a lack of schools in rural areas.

7. Some girls in Malawi are married off at a young age, potentially to partners with HIV/AIDS.

8. Only 70 – 75 per cent of students get into primary school. Only eight per cent continue on into secondary school.

If these statistics move or concern you, learn more about the Global Partnership for Education here.

With all that said… we’re a little worried about the quality of teaching offered by Rihanna in Malawi.

In the above video, we see RiRi leading the class in some basic sums. Except, one “chitsanzo” (“example”) doesn’t quite add up.

Now, we’re not sure if it was Rihanna, Julia Gillard, the teacher or a student who wrote that sum on the board. And if it’s the latter, well, the many reasons listed above are good enough explanations as to why.

But what if it was Rihanna? We’re fairly certain she knows three minus zero actually equals three. We also know she is one of the savviest social media users on the planet.

Did she make this mistake on purpose, knowing that it would get picked up by certain nitpicky outlets (cough) and bring further attention to her cause?

If so, we’ve truly just been schooled.

Photo: YouTube (Global Citizen)