A Norwich school will boost the education of children in Malawi by donating used laptops.

Norwich Primary Academy will donate the 80 laptops to the Norwich-Dedza Partnership, a charity which supports communities in the Dedza region of Malawi in south-east Africa.

The laptops will be refurbished before being shipped to Dedza in April, when they will be given to places including a school for the deaf, a library, hospital, orphanage and an HIV support organisation.

The donation was suggested by teacher Helen Carr, whose family has supported the project in the past.

She said: 'I've been told that mum's last laptop, which was years old and she thought was finished, landed up in the office of the highest ranking local government official there because it was thought so good.'

Norwich Primary Academy principal Tessa Holledge added: 'We are very fortunate to have first-class resources at our school, and it's fantastic that old laptops that we no longer need can benefit children in another country.

'Our pupils are looking forward to hearing about where the laptops end up in Malawi and how they help the children in those communities.'

According to the partnership, only about a third of children are selected for secondary schooling in Malawi, while they have to pay fees to attend schools.

Donations to the fund allow them to pay the fees for 80 students for the four years of their secondary education.

Many of the country's schools are desperately in need of school resources including books and desks.

For more information on the partnership and its work, visit www.norwich-dedza.org

Do you have an education story we should be writing about? Email lauren.cope@archant.co.uk