THEY may be worlds apart, but Monmouthshire school pupils are giving two youngsters less fortunate than themselves a chance of education.

Trellech Primary School is thousands of miles from Yankho Elementary School in Malawi but the school has struck up an unlikely friendship, with pupils here paying for two of the children to attend.

Six-year-old Ruth and eight-year-old Aisha would never have had the chance of education if Trellech’s headteacher and his kind pupils had not stepped in.

Steve King said he got in touch with the British Council in 2008 with the aim of building up an international link with another school to raise the awareness of pupils.

He said: "Somewhere like Trellech it is like a bubble, children have a fantastic upbringing but one down side to that is they may not understand about diversity on the other side of the world."

"Austin Assan, the headteacher, used to be a teacher in the state system but they used to have classes of 140 sitting under a tree in the shade," explained Mr King "So he set up a school in the garden of his house. He couldn’t get funding so he used his money from teaching the national language to overseas workers."

The Malawi school’s 100 pupils have to pay a yearly fee to attend, and Mr Assan suggested this was a way Trellech pupils could really help and they did so through various fundraisers.

"Last year we did a mile-and-a-half walkathon around the school grounds as most of the African children walk that distance to school. We did a car wash and last week a sponsored silence raised £223," he said.

In 2011 Trellech pupils raised enough to pay for pupils Ruth and Aisha's school fees for a year.

The Gwent school receives regular updates of how they are getting on, when Mr Assan cycles to the local British Council office to use the internet.

Mr King has visited the African country twice and each time has taken any surplus money across along with equipment such as toys, tennis rackets and rugby balls.

From what he has seen on the visits, Mr King and the children are pleased to pay a helping hand.

"Ruth and Aisha’s parents wouldn’t have been able to afford an education.

"I am just really proud of the link and that pupils here can make a difference," he added.