Former pupil turns TV presenter

AS Elliot Ross packed his bags for a gap year teaching in Malawi, he must have harboured visions of himself educating impoverished youngsters in ramshackle school buildings.

The 19-year-old could never have foreseen he would become a star of Malawian TV, present a Champions League football game featuring Arsenal, his favourite English team, and be heading off to this summer's World Cup to report on games.

The former Merchiston Castle School pupil, who lives in Leith, also helped produce Malawi's first game show, Gametime, and became the first white person to appear on the TVM channel.

Amazingly, Elliot only volunteered to help out on Malawian TV to give himself something to do during the Easter break. Now he is about to head to the World Cup in Germany to send reports back to a nation which has adopted him as its own Des Lynam.

"I'm hoping to work on the first few games of the World Cup between finishing teaching and starting travelling," he said.

However, his fledgling TV career has not all been plain sailing. "I also commentated on the equivalent of the Malawian Charity Shield - the Honours Cup, between Big Bullets and MTL Wanderers.

"Unfortunately the game was dire, but I had to shamelessly plug the upcoming season anyway.

"This was certainly a challenging role, as I only knew the names of three of the players at kick-off, and I couldn't pronounce those."

TV reporting came easier than teaching at times, because of the difficult conditions he faced.

Malawi is beset with problems - it relies heavily on subsistence farming, but food supply is precarious as the country is prone to natural disasters - from both extreme drought and from heavy rainfall.

Tens of thousands of Malawians die from Aids every year, causing many children to be orphaned, and there is very little money to be put into education.

Elliot said: "The teaching has been going very well, although it's certainly challenging. I've also been very involved in school sport and have set up a football and netball tournament for the local schools which finished last month."

Staff at Merchiston Castle School have not been surprised by his success.

He left the school at the end of the academic year in 2005 before heading for his year out. When he returns he will study English at Cambridge University.

At Merchiston Castle School the Hearts fan was a popular and active pupil.

He was head of his boarding house, a member of the debating team which reached the semi-final of the English Speaking Union Debating Competition, and sang in the school choir. He also produced and directed the sixth-form play. Andrew Hunter, headteacher at Merchiston Castle School, said: "It doesn't surprise me to hear of Elliot's latest exploits.

"He is an extremely talented young man, and someone with a wide range of interests.

"Moreover, in conversation he is both articulate and personable, so the role of television presenter should be right up his street." Fergus West, deputy headteacher, added: "His brothers are at Merchiston and we've been hearing one story after another. We are very proud of him. He is a very bright and multi-talented chap. It does not surprise me that he has done so well."