Madonna gets schooled

Malawi's government accused Madonna of not consulting over her plans to build 10 new schools in the poor southern African state and said the singer seemed more interested in promoting her global image. But the head of an organisation that the pop star brought in to help with her efforts in Malawi fired back, saying the government accusation was "simply not true" and that it had been "fully updated" on the singer's plans. Madonna announced in January her Raising Malawi charity was teaming up with the non-profit group buildOn. Malawi's Ministry of Education spokeswoman Lindiwe Chide said the government was "fed up" with Madonna. Chide said that when the singer last year scrapped a previously planned academy for girls in Malawi, alleging mismanagement and cost overruns, she did not inform authorities. Trevor Neilson, who heads up Global Philanthropy Group, said: "This is simply not true. The government of Malawi has been fully updated on Madonna's effort to provide funding for ten schools to be built in communities where there are no schools."