car stories booklet

8/2/2019 car Stories Booklet

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Building abetter future

Schools for Madagascar

Schools for Africa Madagascar


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Schools for Africa Madagascar

Schools for Madagascar

Building a better future


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Ending the cycle of poverty for children, their families

and their communities begins with education.Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF


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UNICEF Madagascar 2011

Words, photos, design: Kelley Lynch (kelleyslynch.com)

Additional photo credits: Aya Kibesaki, Roger Ramanantsoa, Mamy Randrianasolo, Mario Bacigalupo and

the UNICEF Madagascar Construction Unit

Acknowledgements:

There are many people without whose help this booklet would not have been possible, most notably Margarita Focas Licht who

commissioned it. Thanks go to Susanna Mullard, who travelled to interview candidates before the start of the work. She is a gifted

interviewer and storyteller. The ever-kind and unappable Noro Rakoto-Joseph and Johary Randimbivololona managed everything

in the eld. Not only were they fantastic sources of information and brilliant translators, they were some of the best traveling

companions I have had. My thanks to Johary for his continued support throughout the entire process. Thanks also to Bruno Maes,

UNICEFs Representative to Madagascar. Last but denitely not least, a big thank you to all of the local ocials, children, teachers,

familes and community members featured in the stories. They gave so generously of their time and allowed us to share in their

lives for a few days. It is my sincere hope that their investment will yield results for all of the children of Madagascar.

Contents

Schools for Africa:

Madagascar

6

Making the grade

Incomplete cycle

schools

12

Far from home

Communities

without schools

Building a future

Cyclone affected

schools

UNICEF in action

Making a difference

for children in

Madagascar

About UNICEF

50 84 112 128


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TRANSFORMING

LIVESTHROUGH

EDUCATIONWorldwide, 72 million children are not in school, 45 percent ofthem in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. This equates to one African

child in every three. And those who do go to school often learn in

overcrowded classrooms where the quality of teaching is poor.

The Schools for Africa initiative is a successful international fundraising partnership between

UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Hamburg Society for the Promotion of Democracy

and International Law.

Launched by Nelson Mandela in December 2004, the Schools for Africa partnership seeks to provide

quality basic eduction to millions of children in 11 of Africas most needy countries, including

Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa

and Zimbabwe. Its aim is to help the most disadvantaged, girls, orphans and children living in

extreme poverty.

Schools for Africa supports the implementation of UNICEFs comprehensive Child-Friendly School

approach to education. Each countrys programme is a little different because it is adapted to local

circumstances, but the overall goal remains the same: getting children into school, and keeping

them there to give children, their families and their communities a better future.

Schools for Madagascar Introduction 76 UNICEF Madagascar

Madagascars challenges

Despite its image as a tropical paradise, Madagascar is an island with immense challenges. The islands

population of nearly 20 million may live in beautiful surroundings, but the country is one of the

poorest in the world: Nearly 69 percent of the population are considered poor and 44 percent

extremely poor. Education is essential to help lift the population of Madagascar out of poverty.

Prior to 2009 Madagascar was on track to achieve Education for All. The number of children enrolledin primary school had increased from almost 2.5 million in 2001-2002 to nearly 4.5 million in 2008-

2009. In such a poor country these enrollment rates were seen as particularly impressive. But with

the political crisis starting in 2009 and continuing in 2010, the situation worsened. Many households

have experienced a loss in revenues and public budgets have been cut. To make up for lack of

government funds, schools are now asking parents to pay school fees.

When poverty increases, the likelihood of children not attending school also increases. At the same

time, a depletion of government funds halts the expansion of access to education and improvements

in quality. Today, if Madagascar is to achieve education for all, it urgently needs external support.

A better future with UNICEF

UNICEF has an established reputatio in Madagascar. As a major partner to the Ministry of Education,

it is an organization that has considerable influence at the grassroots and policy levels. Since 1985 it

Schools for Africa: Madagascar


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has been supporting education services to vulnerable groups as well as informing and influencing

government education policy. In the current context of po litical instability and diminishing

resources UNICEF has taken on a greater role. Because of its transparent objective of ensuring

childrens rights and the high technical capacity of UNICEFs education team, both former partners

and new partners look to UNICEF to help minimize the impact of the crisis on children and to ensure

that the country does not lose the immense gains in primary school enrollment and completion

made in previous years. Thus, throughout the crisis UNICEF has been able to appropriately channel

blocked funds for education support, teacher salaries, school grants and classroom construction,

thereby carrying forward key education activities, and contributing to moving the education for all

agenda forward.

At the same time, UNICEF is working to expand local education partnerships, working with school

authorities, non-governmental organisations and other partners to build a better future for children.

Creating and documenting effective approaches and positive experiences, UNICEFs goal is not only

to improve childrens education today, but to build an evidence base that can feed into future

education policy development in the country.

Education in Madagascar

Achieving universal primary education in Madagascar presents significant challenges. The country

has about 452,000 children aged six to ten who remain out of school (Source: Ministry of

Education), and even those who are fortunate enough to go to school often do not stay there long.

A combination of difficult access, poor teaching quality and families living in poverty leads to high

dropout rates. Of those who start grade one, almost 25 percent drop out within the year, 40 percent

will have dropped out by grade three, and only 60 percent will ever go on to complete the full

primary cycle. As a result, the average Malagasy adult has only completed 4.4 years of school.

Schools are too far away. Many are incomplete, have few learning materials and lack essential

amenities like latrines and water. And there are simply not enough classrooms. In order to achieve

education for all Madagascar must build 2000-3000 classrooms every year between now and 2015.

(This figure does not include rehabilitating all of the classrooms damaged or destroyed in cyclones.)

Child-friendly schools: a solution that works

Achieving primary education for all means not only getting children into classrooms it also

means keeping them there and ensuring that they learn and develop to their fullest potential.

UNICEFs Child Friendly School (CFS) model is dedicated to making environments for learning

that are safe and healthy, where children can learn and grow, with respect for their identities and

their diverse needs. This cross-cutting model for achieving quality basic education can be applied

in different countries and cultures in both normal and emergency situations.

Taking the wellbeing of the whole child as its starting point, a child-friendly school is inclusive

and gender-sensitive. It is endowed with adequate resources and with competent teachers who use


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child-centred teaching methods that make learning fun. It provides safe water and suitable

sanitation facilities, and school-based health and nutrition services. It is designed so that children

feel safe and secure.

The CFS model also strengthens families and communities by engaging parents, teachers and

community members in the effective functioning of the school. In this way it makes a concerted

effort to address all of the issues that will affect a childs motivation for coming to school and for

staying there.

In Madagascar UNICEF has helped establish a number of locally-generated initiatives focused on

creating Child Friendly Schools. These include:

Contracts for School Success in which the whole community is involved in identifying and

addressing school level problems.

Improved methods and materials for teaching children how to read and write, as well as innovative

edutainment radio programmes to make learning fun

The construction of environmentally sound, child-friendly classrooms. In a country where

deforestation has already claimed almost 90 percent of the islands natural forests, UNICEF

Madagascars innovative construction techniques ensure that classroom construction is not carried

out at the expense of the environment.

More information on these can be found in the last section of this booklet.

Targeting the most vulnerable

UNICEF believes the greatest improvements to education in Madagascar will come from targeting

vulnerable communities where the most challenging issue is access to p rimary education. In

Madagascar 16 percent of communities have no school; in almost 20 percent of the countrys school

districts more than 40 percent of primary schools are incomplete (offering only two to three years

of education); and in many school districts hundreds of classrooms are destroyed each year bycyclones.

Building classrooms and schools, rehabilitating those that are already there and, most important,

improving the quality of education in these schools, will give vulnerable children the opportunity to

create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.

In this booklet you w ill meet children from three vulnerable communities in Madagascar as they

start a new school year. Manjo attends an incomplete school. Dorlys has no school in her village,

and Angitas classroom was destroyed in a cyclone. Their stories are representative of the experiences

of many children in Madagascar.

A short final section, UNICEF in action, explains how UNICEF is making a difference for children

in Madagascar by working with communities, teachers, parents and children to create sustainable,

local solutions to achieve quality education for all.


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Making the grade

Ankilimanintsy ll

Incomplete cycle schools


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Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 15

In Madagascar 14 percent of children (452,000) between the ages of six and ten are out of school. Of

those that are in school, 15 percent will begin their education in incomplete schools schools that

offer only two or three years of the complete five-year primary cycle. In poorer regions, like Androy

in the arid South of the country, almost half of all primary schools are incomplete cycle schools.

Some of the children who attend these schools will continue their education at complete cycle

schools, often walking long distances to attend. For most, however, their education eventually comes

to a standstill. The choices available to them are to drop out of school altogether, or to continue to

repeat the same grade over and over again in the hope that one day they will be able to move on.

Sam Manjo Manjomasy, who you will meet in the following pages, is a student at Ankilimanintsy

II primary school. It is a small rural school in Androy region that only offers grades one and two. We

meet Manjo as he starts the second grade for the third time, with high hopes that this will be the

year his school finally makes it pos sible for him to move on to grade three.

Making the grade


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Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 1716 UNICEF Madagascar

My name is Sam Manjomasy. I am 13 years old. My friends call me Manjo,which means achieve well. One day I want to be a policeman.

[ ]


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18 UNICEF Madagascar

Sam Manjo ManjomasyManjo, 13, is a student at Ankilimanintsy II primary school. This year he will repeat the second grade for the third time.

Today is the start of a new school year. I am glad that school is

starting. I like it. This year, I will be in grade two again. I really want

to go on to grade three, but my school only goes to grade two, and

my mother cant aord to send me to another school.

Ten other children in my class are also repeating the second

grade. Only one of them has repeated as many times as I have.

Others drop out instead of repeating and repeating. They stay at

home and help their parents work in the elds.

I feel sad about having to repeat, but rather than drop out, I

prefer to stay in grade two. I like to learn, and I believeI hope

one day they will send a second teacher to our school and then I will

be able to move on to grade three.

Going to school is good. I can help my mother. She asks me to

read letters and count money. She has me write any letters she

needs to send. I also teach my family. I have taught them to wash

their hands, their faces and their feet. I have taught them about

washing their hands before they eat and about washing the plates

and spoons. Now they do these things. Before they did not.

Because I know everything we are learning in school it is my job

to help the teacher: I help her to bring in the school materials at the

start of the day and put them away at the end of the day.

Sometimes she asks me to help the younger children with their

reading or to keep them quiet. I like it because it feels like I am a

teacher too.

When I was younger my mother wanted me to be a doc tor. Later,

when I could think for myself, I decided I wanted to be a policeman.

I like the look of policemen. I like their uniforms. I also know that

policemen have money to buy things. There are policemen on the

road near the school. I always see them buying things to eat, like

beer and meat. I am not sure how many years I would have to go

to school to become a policeman. Maybe six? But whatever I do,

doctor or policeman, I can only do it if I can go on to the third grade.


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05:45 My mother wakes usup and I go outside to washmy face and clean my teeth

06:00 twice a week the water sellers comewith the cart and I buy water for the family. Twentyliters costs 400 Ariary (20 US).

06:10 We eat sweet potatoes for breakfast.Manjo: Damy, what are you doing today?Damy: I am going to look after grandmothers cattle.Manjo: Vaha, what about you?Vaha: I will bring firewood and work in the field.Manjo: Mother, what are you doing today?Mother: Weaving. Are you looking forward to school?Manjo : I am.

06:20 I walk to school with the childrenfrom our village. We carry water and woodfor the canteen.


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Vaha HetsagnombeeManjos mother

I am very happy that Manjo is starting back to school today. He is

the only one of my three children that goes to school. Manjos father

died when Manjo was just two years old. So t here is no one else at

home. That is why I need my other two childrenmy son Damy

who is 14 and my daughter Vaha who is tenat home to help me.

They help me in the eld and around the house.

Even if I didnt need their help I could not aord to send all three

of them to school, so I have chosen to send Manjo. He is dynamic

and intelligent. Of my three children he is the best suited for school.

I support our family by weaving traditional mats (tsihy) by hand.

When I nish one, I sell it and we use the money to buy food. One

mat costs 4000 Ariary (US $2). I can usually make and sell two in a

month. We also grow manioc, potatoes, beans and maize. If I just

work on the mats and dont do agriculture I can produce four mats

in a month, but when I also work in the elds there is only time to

make two. The produce from our elds supports us all year round. If

the harvest is good we sell some of it. We do not have any

animalsjust ten chickens.

When Manjo grows up I want him to be a doctor. Doctors earn

a lot of moneyand with that Manjo can help me in my life. But

when I send him oto school every day that is not what I am

thinking. I am just thinking I need him to go to school so he c an

learn something. I believe that if Manjo learns something he will

become a chief one dayan authority of some sort in the region.

He has the personality for it.

The teacher told me that Manjo must go to another school so he

can continue his education. I listened to what she said, but then I

dismissed it. The nearest [full cycle primary] school is six kms away.

That is not too far for Manjo to go, but it is a private school. It would

cost 3000 Ariary (US $1.50) each month to send him. I cant aord

that. The nearest public school is more than 12 kms away. That

would not cost so much, but it is too far away and I cant have him

stay there. I need him to come home at the end of the day because

he helps meand I dont want him to live away from home.

I want Manjo to run after knowledge. I want him to earn a

certicate or a diploma and become a doctor. I believe he will do

these things one day, even if for now he has to repeat.


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Ankilimanintsy II primary school

constructed: 2003

dimensions: 4 x 8 meters

number of villages served: 4

grades offered: 1 & 2

number of students: 132

number of desks: 17

number of teachers: 1


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I have been the teacher here for two years. It is a small classroom

and it is very crowded with 132 students inside. The parents in this

community worked together to build this classroom with their own

money and labour. They wanted their children to be able to go to

school, but they didnt have the money to build a second classroom

or to make this one bigger. Nor was there money to build a latrine.

It is really hard to teach so many children. It is especially hard to

supervise what they are doing. Every child is dierent and some of

them have problems. I need to work with them individually, but I

cant. The children in the second grade sit in the desks. Most of the

rst grade sits on the oor. There are so many of them that I cant

even get to where they are sitting. I have asked the district

education chief to send another teacher to help me, but I am not

sure if or when they will.

When the children here nish grade two, if their parents have

enough money, they can send them to school in Ambovombe

(15 kms away). If their parents dont have money the children stay

here and repeat the second grade with the hope that one day the

district education oce will send another teacher. If a new teacher

comes we can open grade three.

This year I have ten children repeating grade two. Some parents

take their children out of school and have them help at home rather

than have them keep repeating. Other parents keep sending them

because they hope that one day we will be able to oer grade three.

Most of the parents here believe that it is important to send their

children to school, even if means repeating the same grade. They

want to see them going to school. They know it is a benet.

Manjo is a good example. He is an excellent student. By now

he would be in grade ve if he had been able to progress in his

education. Last year and the year before that I told Manjo and his

mother that they should send him to another school. Manjo said

No. I know that my mother does not have the money to send me

to another school. I will stay here until they open the third grade.

Manjo is the leader of the class. He helps me with the younger

children by listening to them read and keeping them in order.

When I need someone to help me in any wayfor example, to

go with the children to d o agricultureManjo is my assistant.

I am sad. I worry that soon it will be too late for him to nish his

education. Thats why I keep telling him to go to school elsewhere.

But he says No, I have to stay.I really want to see him get an

education. I have even thought about paying for this myself, but I

dont have the money to send him to school elsewhere. That is why

I have insisted that the district education chief send us another

teacher and then we will open grade three.

Mameno RovaTeacher, Ankilimanintsy II primary school


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06:50 We clean the c lassroom,then we line up. We raise theflag and sing the national anthem.

07:05 The teacher takesattendance.

08:30 The teacher asks me to help someof the first-graders with their reading.

09:12 The teacher reads to the class.


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NamorisoaPresident, Ankilimanintsy II village

As the president of this village it is my role to motivate the parents

to send their children to school. Sending children to school is

important for the development of our village and our district.

Before we were in the dark. Our minds were closed. But now

most parents are convinced that education is very important. It

used to be that the culture of our area emphasized the importance

of cattle: Cattle were important and all of the children were sent

out to watch them. But that has changed. In recent years many

cattle have been stolen and the environment is drier than it used

to be. Now there are not enough cattle.

Most of the parents in this village never went to school. But now

that there are fewer cattle they see that it is important to send their

children to school so that they can open t heir minds to receive new

things from the world, and when they grow up they can have a job.

There are still some who resist, some who still want to send their

children out with the cattle. They think If I haveve children, I can

have one help with the cooking, one keep the cows, one stay with

the small children and the other t wo can go to school.

But other parents are changing their thinking. They are thinking

One will manage the cattle and the other four will go to school.

When parents see changes in their school-going childrenin what

they know, the way they carry themselves and how they keep

themselves cleanthey are motivated to send the others.

We built Ankilimanintsy II school with the help of the parents.

There was no school in the village. Each family contributed ten

pieces of wood. The classroom is small, but we cannot aord to

build another. This is one of the reasons this is an incomplete cycle

school. The other is the lack of a second teacher.

I know all about not being able to complete your education. My

parents stopped me going to school when I was in grade 4. Some

of my classmates continued and now they are living and working

outside the country as doctors and in other jobs. I may be the

Village President and the most educated man in this village, but

when I see what my friends achieved it makes me sad. I f I had been

able to continue I might have done so much more.

This is why I push children to go to schoolmy children and the

children of this village. This is why we worked together to build this

school. But now when I see children like Manjo repeating the same

class again and again, I see my own situation and I feel sad all over

again. I worry that they may not have the opportunity to continue

their studies. It is because of Manjo and the others like him that we

keep ghting to have grade three here.

09:18 Every school day,


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09:18 Every school day,two parents from thecommunity take it in turnto cook rice and lentilsfor us.

09:30 I bring the dishesto the canteen and theyserve the food.

09:33 Some of the water we bringto school is used for washing ourhands before we eat.

09:35 Slow down! theteacher always tells us.Dont eat so fast!


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09:42 Recess


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Helene RamanantenasoaPedagogic Counsellor, Ambovombe district

Before, parents in Ambovombe district were not interested in

sending their children to school. When UNICEF started work in

this district in 1994 there were only 70 schools. Now there are 239.

It is good that so many parents want to send their children to

school. The problem is that the government doesnt have the funds

to build all of the classrooms that are needed, so this job falls to the

parents. They cant wait for the government if they want their

children to go to school. So communities like this one organise

themselves and build a school so that their children are not left out.

Of the 236 primary schools in this district, 119 are incomplete.

There are two main reasons for this. First, and most important, there

are not enough classrooms. In this area building materials are scarce

and costly. They cant make bricks here. Cement is available in town,

but it is expensive and hard to transport to remote areas. Also, there

is very little water here. How can you make cement without water?

Wood is scarce and costly because the forests have been destroyed.

This is why the parents can only aord to build a small classroom.

The second reason for the large number of incomplete schools

is that there are not enough teachers. This situation is easier to

resolve. If there is someone in the village who has completed grade

nine or ten, they can be recruited and trained.

The problem with incomplete cycle schools is that children only

complete a few grades and then they are stuck. I f you only get an

education through grade two or three, there is a risk that you will

fall back into illiteracy. There are studies that say that you need a

minimum of a fth grade education in order to retain literacy.

We want to see these children move ahead with their education.

One solution to this is doing more of what is already being done:

organising the community to build the schools. The parents would

buy what materials they can. And if, for example, they cant aord

to buy cement, they can go to t he mayor of the community and ask

him if he will participate by buying cement, and go to the district

education chief to ask if he will give part of the roof if he can. In

other words, they organise themselves and negotiate the

economics within the community.

But even if they did this, these parents have no idea how to

organise and manage those who would construct the school. If we

can teach them how to do this, they can proceed on their own. But


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even then, the schools will need to be renewed or rebuilt every year

or two, depending on the weather. So another idea is to ask organi-

sations like UNICEF to help us build durable schoolsschools that

would not require parents to build or renew them.

We have been working with UNICEF for 15 years now. In that

time, they have introduced some valuable systems to encourage

community participation. The Contract for School Success is the

biggest benet of our collaboration. It encourages the participation

of all the community membersparents, local authorities, the

district education chief, teachers and childrenin order to

promote education.

This starts even before they build a school. The community has

a meeting and the stakeholders discuss the problems of education

in their community. When everyone understands the problems

children will face if they dont go to school, and know what they can

do to help, everyone inevitably agrees to build the school because

they are aware of the benets it will bring. This means that even if it

costs them time or money, they will participate willingly because

they understand why they are doing it. Without thisif you only go

and dictate to them what you believe should be donethey will

not be motivated. That is why the Contract for School Success is so

important.

In the future I would like UNICEF to help us to improve the

quality of education in Madagascar. Children need to know more

than reading, writing, calculating and speaking French. They need

life skills. Their parents should see that there is a dierence if

children go to school. Children should acquire some knowledge,

some competencies that help them in their lives. They should also

learn some activities that will help them to nd employment when

they nish school.

I would like to see one other thing happenand I hope UNICEF

can help with this: I would like to situate junior secondary schools

nearer to primary schools. To go to primary school children walk,

on average, three to four kms each way. To go to secondary schools

they often walk as far as 10-15 kms. More children could continue

their education if schools were not so far away.


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12:10 I walk home with my friends. While we walkwe talk about what we are going to do when weget home.Maka: I am going to watch the cows.Fisaorantsoa: I will help my mother cook.Liatinatae: I have to collect firewood.Manjo: I am going to help my mother in

the field and then do my homework.

13:35 Setting off for the field


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17:42 Homework


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When I grow up, I want to be...

Liatinataea teacher

Makaa district education officer

Soabinagoea teacher

Manatenasoaa teacher

Fisaoratsoaa midwife

Manjoa policeman


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Manjo and generations of children following him need

a complete primary education if they are to havea chance to achieve their dreams.

UNICEF is working to complete incomplete cycle schools

throughout Madagascar, including Manjos.


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Close to home

Zafimahavory

Communities without a school

Cl h


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Schools for Madagascar Close to home 51

More than 16 percent of communities in Madagascar have no school. In some remote districts that

number can be as high as 50-60 percent. This is one reason that primary net enrollment in

Madagascar is just 89 percent. For many children this means that they never set foot in school. Others

walk as far as ten kms to the nearest school, sometimes traversing rivers and other dangerous

stretches on the way.

After some time many of these children drop out, finding the daily journey too strenuous to

continue. It is difficult to perform well after walking so far to school, and often having had little

to eat. Others are forced to end their education early so that they can help out at home. Boys areneeded to watch the livestock, girls to help with household chores.

Parents also worry about the dangers their children may face, and may prefer to keep their

children, especially girls, safe at home especially as they reach puberty. Another factor in their

decision may be marriage. Arranged early marriages for girls are common in some parts of Madagascar.

In the following pages you will meet 12-year-old Dorlys, a student at Esalo primary school in the

Anosy region of southern Madagascar. Dorlys lives more than four kms from school in the village of

Zafimahavory. Despite traveling more than two hours a day to school and back, and all of the chores

she must do at home, Dorlys plans to continue her education and her parents plan to continue

sending her to school. Dorlys is one of the lucky ones. In districts with easy access to a school,

85 percent of girls go on to junior secondary school, compared to only 27 percent of girls in remote

rural districts. There are other children in the village who have never gone to school or who have

dropped out children for whom a school close to home would have changed their lives.

Close to home


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Schools for Madagascar Close to home 5352 UNICEF Madagascar

My name is Dorlys. I live in the village of Zafimahavory. I am 12 years oldand I am in the third grade. When I grow up I want to be a nurse.

DorlysDorlys, 12, is a student at Esalo primary school, which is located more than four kms from her home.

Today is therst day of school. I am glad. I like going to school. The

only thing I dont like is the long walk. I walk with my friends. I t takes

us about an hour to get there. Sometimes were late and we have to

run. Sometimes we just run for fun.Some of my friends in the village have dropped out because the

school is far away. One girl I know was with us in grade one but then

she stopped. She was tired of walking so far every day and she had

a hard time keeping up with all of the other children. Now she is 13.

She takes care of her younger brother and works at home while her

parents are working in the elds. She is also promised to be married.

Another friend stopped after grade three. She was sick for a long

time so she had to repeat grade one and then she was sick again

and had to repeat grade two. When the teacher said she had to

repeat grade three, her parents said No, t hats enough.

I know other children who have had to stop because their

parents could not aord to buy notebooks and pens, or because

they had to help their parents to watch the cows or to work at

home. And there are some who have never even been to school.

I am lucky. My parents want me to continue my education. They

want me to be like my brother who is studying in the university.

Thats a good thing. I will have to go to school for a long time if I am

going to be a nurse.I dont know many girls in my village who have continued their

education past grade ve. Right now I can only think of one. Her

school is very far away. She leaves early in the morning and returns

in the evening. When she nished grade ve she was living with her

grandmother, who told her it was time for her to get married. She

told her grandmother that she wanted to continue to study, but her

grandmother refused. I have my uncle,the girl said. He will help me

to continue my studies.So now she lives with her uncle, but if her

uncle stops supporting her, she will have to go back and live with

her grandmother and get married.

I want to keep going to school. But if there was a school in the

village it would be so much easier. Then I wouldnt have to spend so

much of my day walking and I would have more time to d o my

chores, nish my homework and play with my friends.


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06:18 I feed our animals

06:34 I bring water for my family.

06:04 After I wake upI go to the river to washmy face and hands.

Justin DamyDorlyss father


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I am a farmer. I have a tiny plantation of manioc and sweet potatoes.

I also have a cow, a goose, a chicken and a duck.

And I have six wonderful children. All of them have gone to

school. I am really proud of them. Three are in school now: Dorlys

and her sister are in grade three and my oldest son is in university.

One of my other two daughters nished grade ve, then stopped.

Shes married now. The other one dropped out. I cant remember

when that was. And then I have one more son. He dropped out I

think it was in grade nine. He was discouraged by having to go so

far to school every day. Now he helps me in the eld.

I really hope that Dorlys will go far in her education. I want herto succeed in life and not just be a small-time farmer like me. I

hope one day she will go on to university like her brother. If she

completes grade ve and passes the exam, we will do everything

we can to send her to junior secondary school. It is far away nine

or ten kms from the village but if she wants to continue her

education, it is our responsibility to help her to do so. It will be her

choice, not ours. Children have to learn for themselves how hard

life can be.

I only completed grade four, but I know that education has many

benets. Of course the chief benet is a better life in the long term.

However, day to day it means that you can read ocial papers and

that nobody can make a fool of you when you have to negotiate

something. A good education also opens doors, like the door to

getting a good job and not being a poor farmer.

I am especially proud to see my children studying because I know

the diculties many parents in Zamahavory myself included

face when it comes to sending our children to school. Therst is

nancial. The costs of life weigh heavily on parentsshoulders.

School materials, uniforms and contributions can be expensive

especially if you have more than one child in school.

Safety is a big concern. Four kms is a long way to go. When they

are small an adult from the village should always walk the children

to school. The older children walk together, but they have to cross

a river and go through the forest where thieves are said to be

hiding. Nothing has happened so far, but we are always worried.Another issue is the children themselves. Boys are usually lazy

about going to school. They prefer to play or help their parents in

the eld. For girls, it depends. Some want to go to school, some

dont because its too far. Dorlys is a good girl. Such a nice girl. She

always helps her mother and shes always happy to go to school in

the morning. Not all children are like that.

Imagine if there was a school in this village: There are many

children here, and I am sure that almost all of them would attend.

They would not have to walk so far to school, so they would not

be tired when they arrived, and that would mean better results. It

would also mean fewer would drop out. For parents, it would mean

we could relax. Our children would have more time to help us at

home, and we would no longer have to worry about their safety.

That would be marvelous!


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07:02 I leave for school with some of the children from my village.

07:14Esperance: Im glad school is starting again.

Its better than working in the fields.Dorlys: Me too. Im looking forward to seeing

all of my friends.Tina: I hope our new teacher is nice.

07:21 We cross the river.When there is a lot of rainthe river gets too deep andwe cant go to school.


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07:43 Wait for me!


07:35 Hurry up! Well be late!


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62 UNICEF Madagascar Schools for Madagascar Close to home 63

07:56 Entering Esalo

>07:51 A parent walks with agroup of children to the school.


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08:11 We are here to learn. So that you can learn well,I ask you to remember that our school has a numberof rules: one, dont be late; two, dont talk in class;three, dont come to school dirty. Before you come toschool you must wash your face, your hands and yourclothes.

0725 Line up.

08:06 Youre late! Go outside and line up.And dont disturb the other children.


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Velomandimby EdvinDirector, Esalo primary school

In this school we have 631 students. Only half of them come from

this village. The rest come from further away. Many, like those from

Zamahavory, travel four kms to school each way. They run and

play on the way, so when they arrive they are sweaty and tired.

Sometimes they sleep in class. Many dont eat before they come

to school. They are hungry. They dont pay attention. They get in

trouble and end up having to repeat the grade.

Only half of the children who start school in grade one complete

grade ve. There are a number of reasons for this. Sometimes it is

because their parents are poor and cant aord to buy school

supplies. Other times it is because the parents need their children

to help at home. But most often it is simply because the children

get tired of coming so far to school every day. The journey is too

long and too hot. And when it rains it is really di cult for them to

get to school. So when they are in grade three or four they drop out.

Typically it is the girls who drop out in grade three, the boys in

grade four. This is the time when girls grow up. If a girl is promised

to be married she may have to drop out because her ancees

parents, afraid that she might take another boy, bring her to live

with them at their house. And then her schooling is usually nished.

But all of this depends on the parents and the in-laws.

Usually an equal number of girls and boys end up graduating

from grade ve, but sometimes there is an exception: last year in

our school more girls graduated than boys.

If there was a school in Zamahavory village a lot of these

problems would be solved. The drop out rate would decrease and

the village would be developed. Education brings light. In a family, if

even one child goes to study, it can change t he mentality of the

whole family. Take these children here, for example. At school a

child learns to wash his hands before eating. This will change the

practice of the families in the village. They will learn to do the same.

Another example is the latrine. We have latrines at school. They do

not have them in the village. It is dicult to change behaviour, but if

a child learns about these things in school, he or she will explain it

to their family: wash your hands, use the latrine.... In this way the

child becomes the agent of change for the entire family.


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09:38 Dorlys, wake up!Why are you sleeping in class?Didnt you sleep last night?

08:49 Now children, you must payattention and raise your hand ifyou have the answer and want tospeak. Ready? We are going to havea Malagasy lesson. My firstquestion is: What is a sentence?Raise your hand!

Zafimahavory


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Contract for School Success. In it the parents have agreed not to

take their children out of school until they have completed grade

ve. This has had a big impact on the number of drop outs. If they

built a school in Zamahavory and made a similar contract, it would

also make a big dierence.

But we also have to think further ahead. In order to get good jobs

our children need to be able to continue their education beyond

primary level. And most of the children here, even if they pass the

grade ve exit exam, will not be able to go on to grade six. The

junior secondary school is almost ten kms away. The children are

bigger, so the journey is easier for them, but it is still very far. Most

parents cannot aord to send their children to live near the school.

It is also dicult for them to aord the increased cost of materials.

So the girls often end up getting married or helping their parents at

home, and the boys looking after the cattle.

We want to bring change to our villages. Establishing a primary

school in Zamahavory and ensuring that children complete the

fth grade is a rst step to doing this. As more children complete

grade ve I am sure that, despite the diculties, more of them will

nd a way to go on to j unior secondary school.

Esalo

Romain RibahiraPresident of Esalo fokontany, the administrative unitthat includes both Zamahavory and Esalo villages

I have six children. All of them have gone to school in Esalo, in part

because I happen to live near to the school, but also because I see

the importance of education. I completed grade 12. My parents also

lived near the school, so it was easier for me to attend.

Today I am one of the most educated people in this area. Having

an education means I can read and write. It means I can understand

what things mean and I can explain things to others. It means

people cannot cheat me, and it means I can manage my money and

I can manage this village.

But many people do not have the same opportunity my family

and I have had. In Zamahavory there are 450 children, of whom

300 should be in school. Many of them are not in school because it

is a long way from their village to Esalo.

I would like to see a school in Zamahavory. It would bring

change to the people and to the village. It would allow some people

to learn to do dierent jobs. But it would also help those who

continue to do agriculture; they could learn new methods and be

more productive.

The most important thing is that we get these children in school

and keep them there through grade ve. In Esalo we have in place a

I h Ch l


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However, as much as they may want to build schools in these

villages, local administrators have little money and too many

competing prioritieslike the need to build clinics and dispen-

saries. They do not have the nancial resources with which to build

another school unless they can nd a way to raise more money, or

nd partners to help with funding.

An average classroom built of local materials and constructed

with the help of parents costs about US $2500. But this depends on

where it is located. If it is built in a village far from the main road, like

Zamahavory, it will cost more. This is because the materials needed

to build a school stone, bricks, cement, woodare not available

nearby, and transporting them there is dicult and costly.

Being far from the main road has other drawbacks. Nobody sees

remote villages like Zamahavory. When authorities come they just

stop at the school in Esalo. They dont go any further. UNICEF is the

rst partner to come to Zamahavory.

UNICEF has already helped our school district in many ways:

Teacher training has been very important, as has the Contract for

School Success. In the future we hope that UNICEF will continue to

help us by building schools in remote villages like Zamahavory.

This will help Madagascar to make education for all a reality.

Ingahy CharlesPedagogic Counsellor, Taolagnaro district

In this district alone there are 43 villages without a school, which

aects the education of about 1500 school age children.

If we are going to achieve education for all, a number of things

need to happen: First, we need to build more schools, and they

need to be located near the people, so that they can send their

children to school. Second, we must have people, like the president

of the village, who will encourage the parents to send t heir children

to school. Third, the Ministry of Education must continue, as they

have in the past, to help poor families by providing each student

with a school bag containing notebooks, pens and pencils. Finally,

we must have a contract with the parents and the community

a contract for school successso that they keep their children in

school through grade ve.

Currently, most if not all of these things are happening in places

like Esalo. But in villages like Zamahavory, we are at the rst step:

the need to build a school.

In planning to achieve education for all, the objective was set

that each fokontany should have a primary school. But in reality,

there are some big villages like Zamahavory that need their own

school because there are many children living there and they are

located far from the fokontany school.


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14:13 My friends and I go to the river to wash our families clothes.

14:44 We pick greensto cook for dinner.12:32 After eating lunch at the canteen, we walk home.


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16:13 We sing and dance with the other children in the village.15:36 We collect water


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18:22 My brother helps me with my homework.

16:53 I cook dinner for my family.

18:05 After we finish eating I wash the dishes.


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Bringing schools close to home will allow more children

in villages like Zafimahavory to go to schooland to complete their primary education.

UNICEF Madagascar is working with local education authorities

to provide remote communities with child-friendly schools.


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Building a future

Marolondo

Cyclone-aected schools

Building a future


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Schools for Madagascar Building a future 85

On 18 February, 2008 cyclone Ivan made landfall in Fenerive Est district on the northeast coast of

Madagascar. One of the most powerful cyclones ever to hit the island, the category four storm left

more than 200,000 people homeless. It also completely destroyed 800 classrooms and forced 40,000

children to suspend their education. Nowhere was the damage worse than in Fenerive Est.

As many as four cyclones strike Madagascar each year, cumulatively damaging or destroying on

average 1000 classrooms and disrupting the education of almost 150,000 students. Most of the

damaged classrooms are made of local forest materials.

Climate change models predict an increase in the intensity of cyclones hitting the island. Thiswill increase the number of affected schools, and add to the number of classrooms Madagascar

must build or rehabilitate if it is to achieve Education for All.

With limited government funds, schools are forced to rely on parents to rehabilitate or rebuild

their childrens classrooms. This puts a strain not only on the parents, who must contribute time,

money and materials, but also on Madagascars already diminished forests.

In the following pages you will meet Angita, a second grade student at Marolondo primary school

in Fenerive Est. We meet her as she begins her third school year after cyclone Ivan, still studying in

the UNICEF tents the school was so happy to receive just after the cyclone.

Without the funds to build a permanent classroom, the tents have become a fixture at the school.

But this does not s top the parents, teachers and students at Marolondo thinking about building a

better future for their children.

Angita Emerentienne


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Schools for Madagascar Building a future 8786 UNICEF Madagascar

My name is Angita. I live in Marolondo village. I am nine years oldand I am in grade three. When I grow up I want to be a teacher.

Angita, 9, is a student at Marolondo primary school. She has been studying in a tent since her classroom was destroyed in cyclone Ivan.

Today is therst day of school. Some things change: I will be in

grade three this year. Some things stay the same: last year I studied

in a tent, and part of the year before that. This year I will again study

in a tent. I used to study in a classroom. That was before the cyclone.

I remember the cyclone. I remember that our house was blown

down. But nobody died. We were not in the house when the

cyclone came. We heard it was coming so we went to stay in my

grandfathers house. That house is stronger.I heard the wind

outside. It made a noise like wooo wooo! When the wind stopped

we went outside. I saw that houses had been blown down and trees

too. The mangoes had fallen othe trees. The rst thing I did was

run to collect all the mangoes and eat them!

When we got to our house I saw that there was nothing left at all.

It was at on the ground. The roof had blown away. Everything we

had in the house was squashed in the middle wit h everything else.

We lost our plates and our cooking pots. Our clothes were wet. My

sister was crying. My parents went to the forest to check on our

cows. I wasnt happy with the cyclone for doing this to us, but I

didnt cry. I was brave. After we cleared the broken parts of the

house away my parents started to rebuild our house with trees and

bamboo they brought from the forest.

After a week I went back to school. I saw that my classroomthe

one I had studied inwas just like my house, at on the ground. I

helped to clear it up. I felt very sad. I thought I might not be able to

continue my classes. There was only one classroom leftthe one

made of bricks.

The teachers decided to divide that classroom into two by put-

ting up bamboo walls inside. It was noisy and confusing because all

the dierent grades shared that classroom and we had classes at

dierent hours on dierent days. It changed all the time. But I was

happy I could still go to school.

When UNICEF put up the tents for us, I was glad. We could have

regular classes again and we had more space. That [tarpaulin] tent

was good, but it was there for a long time so it got damaged by the

wind. The plastic cover ripped and when it rained water would

come in. My cousin Sylvie will study in that tent this year. I will study

in the canvas tent again. It isnt easy to study in there. Its hot so

I cant concentrate very well. Sometimes I fall asleep in class.

I love going to school. I want to be a teacher when I grow up.

I wish I could go to a school with a lot of nice classrooms, and that

they were all strong so that I would never have to miss school again

because of a cyclone.


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06:45 I leave for school. I walk with my brother, my sister and my cousins.

07:00 When I get to school myfriends and I play games and sing.

06:50 I wash myhands and feet andmy face on the wayto school.


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09:10 I cant concentrate inthis tent. It is so hot thatsometimes I fall asleep duringlessons. When it rains thetent leaks and the floor turnsinto mud. Then we take ourbooks and go home becausethere is not anywhere elsefor us to go.

07:15 We clean up the schoolyard

07:30 The teacher blows the whistle. Weline up and go inside, then lessons begin.

Urbain KalolahyHeadmaster, Marolondo primary school


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After cyclone Ivan only one of our classrooms remained standing.

That one is made of durable materials. The two that were made of

local materials wood, bamboo and travellers palm were

completely destroyed.

When I saw this I called the district education o ce to report the

damage and then called a meeting of all the parents. I told them, As

you can see, the classrooms were destroyed. If you want your

children to go to school, you will need to help reconstruct them.

These parents have a hard life, especially after a cyclone. We call

them because time is ying, and we know it will take time for the

government to respond. They are motivated to send their children

to school. They are faster to respond. And if the children dont go to

school for even a couple of weeks it is dicult to nish our

programme for the school year. As it was, with only one classroom

we had to cut down on instruct ion time and change our schedule.

After two weeks UNICEF put up two tarpaulin tents. When the

tents were rst put up, we were so happy because the children

could continue their schooling. There were many villages without

tents that were not able to continue. We felt like the chosen ones!

Having this temporary classroom space allowed us to resume our

normal schedule while the parents worked to construct a new

classroom. UNICEF also provided kits containing basic school

materials to replace those that had been destroyed and recreation

kits so that the children could play and enjoy their time at school.

Within four months, both of the tarpaulin tents were damaged

and the parents had not yet nished constructing the new

classroom. That was when UNICEF provided us with the canvas tent.

A short time later the parents nished the local materials

classroom. It cost approximately one million Ariary (US $500). That

was a lot for them. They brought wood, bamboo and palms. It was

not easy. We are grateful for what they have done, but the single

classroom they have built is not enough, and they cannot aord to

build another one. That is why these tentswhich were supposed

to be temporaryare still in use.

It is hard to teach and to learn in the tents, especially the canvas

tent. It is hot. The children dont pay attention when t hey are so hot.

Even the teachers are sweating. We go in and have class for a bit and

then go outside to cool down and then back in, out, in, out. It is

disruptive. And if there is rain, it pours into the te nt through the

ripped skylights on top. Sometimes this forces us to cancel classes.

The classroom that the parents built is more comfortable, but It is

a weak structure. If another strong cyclone comes along, it will be

destroyed. What we really need is a hardstructure. A building that,

even in a cyclone, will remain standing.


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What difference would a permanent classroom make?

If we had a permanent classroom, everyone here would bemotivated. I could put up decorations and they wouldntjust fall down. Our classroom would be clean and beautifuland comfortable. The children would love to study and theteachers would love to teach. It would be easier to concen-

trate. The students would get better results. All of thechildren would want to come to school and they would bemotivated to continue their education. And where thechildren are happy, the parents are happy, so they wouldwant to do more for the school. A permanent classroomwould make everyone involved feel that what we are doinghere is important.

Urbain KalolahyHeadmaster, Marolondo primary school


Parents want to send their children to school, but theyhave nothing no money, too little food. They are alreadyselling their assets to keep their children in school. Thenevery year they have to pay to maintain or, if there is acyclone, rebuild these classrooms made of local materials.

When there is a lot of rain, the materials become porous.Bugs eat the bamboo. If classrooms were made of durablematerials, parents would only have to pay for theirchildrens school supplies.

Hortense ManandrayTeacher, Marolondo primary school


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11:12 This is mycousin Sylviesfirst day ever atschool. This yearshe will study inthe gray tarpaulintent. I studiedthere after thecyclone. It ismuch cooler thanthe canvas tentI study in now.

12:30 Lessons finish. I go home for lunch and do my homework.


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stronger, stronger. So our life is getting harder and harder. After a

cyclone, it is dicult to nd food, we have little money, and ourhouses are destroyed.

A cyclone will also damage or destroy the school. It takes time to

ask the government for help, but if the community works together

the children will have a classroom sooner. So even though our lives

are dicult after a cyclone, we take responsibility for the school so

that our childrens education is not interrupted for very long.

It is important to send our children to school. We want them to

succeedto be literate and to have a better life. That is why we go

into the forest to collect materials to construct a classroom. That is

why we give our money and time to help rebuild. We give whatever

we have because other things matter less.

To have another classroom made of durable materials would

change our lives.

Jean LouisAngitas father

When I look at the people around me I see that they have a hard life.

Really hard. Because they dont have enough money to survive. Sowhen they take breakfast in the morning, they dont eat r ice, they

just eat manioc. Most of them dont eat lunch, they just eat again in

the evening. For these people there is not enough. There is nothing.

We are better othan most of the people here, but we still dont

have that much. We are farmers. We grow rice, manioc (cassava),

sweet potato and bananas. We also have two cows. After cyclone

Ivan, life here became more dicult because there was not enough

food to sell. The clove trees blew down and the coee was

destroyed. Some people planted manioc and bananassmall,

small. It isnt easy for people from outside to understand how

dicult things really are here.

In my life I have seen that there are more and more cyclones and

that they are getting stronger and stronger. Theyre stronger,


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13:53 After we eat lunch my parents go back to work in the fields.

14:10 If my sistercatches some fishwe will eat themwith rice fordinner tonight. 14:32 I go to find my friends.


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A permanent structure would remain standing in a cyclone,so our childrens education would not risk being inter-

rupted. We would no longer have to go into the forest tocut wood and bamboo and travelers palm for the school.And we would not have to contribute money and labourwhen it is hardest to give.

Jean LouisAngitas father


The local materials for rebuilding are running out, particu-larly because they are required so often to reconstruct

damaged houses, classrooms, etc. It isnt sustainable tokeep doing this. These materials will not last forever.

Time SamDeputy Planning and Programme Ocer,

Fenerive Est district education oce

Time SamDeputy Planning and Programme Ocer, Fenerive Est district education oce

Being on the nort heast coast of Madagascar Fenerive Est is touched materials This would be better not only for the parents but also for


54/67


Being on the nort heast coast of Madagascar, Fenerive Est is touched

in some way by almost every cyclone that hits the island. If it isnt at

the heart of the storm, it is hit by the tail. This means that every year

many classrooms here are damaged or destroyed.

In 2008, cyclone I van damaged 249 classrooms in Fenerive Est

and destroyed 638. Without government funds to rebuild them,

the parents must be involved so that their children can get back to

school quickly and nish on time.

These families have just lost their houses, their crops and theclassrooms in which their children study. Now they have to start

again with little if any money. They need to rebuild their houses and

feed themselves and their children, and they also have to provide

labour, materials and/or money to rehabilitate the schools.

Despite all of this, Fenerive Est has an enrollment rate of almost

92 percent one of the highest in the country. Things are dicult

for these parents, but they have a strong desire to send their

children to school. They want them to succeed.

However, asking the parents to continue to build and re-build

classrooms made of local materials is not a sustainable solution to

the cyclone problem. There are more cyclones now, and they are

stronger. Even if more are built, more will be lost. It would be better

to build strong classrooms made of cement or other durable

materials. This would be better not only for the parents but also for

the environment.

Classrooms made of local materials rely on wood to strengthen

the structure. But wood is costly, because there is less and less of it

available. Many of the trees have been blown over in cyclones, but

human activity is also responsible for t his situation. People are

cutting trees to make charcoal or to use in the construction of

houses and schools. They also use it to make furniture. And they cut

trees by the hectare for tavy(traditional slash-and-burn agriculture).The situation has gotten so bad that Fenerive Est recently

ordered wood from Moramanga (330 kms away). And yet Fenerive

Est has always had far more wood than Moramanga! In the past

rainforest used to cover the entire east coast. Now, due to all of

these activities, it has been reduced to just a strip.

Nearly 100 percent of the people here are farmers. They rely on

the forest for their survival. As the trees disappear, the soil becomes

like what you would nd in a desert. It is less productive. People are

already poor. I am afraid they will become even poorer.

I ask myself how we can build all of the new classrooms we need

and how we can continue to rebuild and maintain those made of

local materials that already exist? It puts a heavy burden on families

and on the forest. Schools made of durable materials are our future.


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16:56 My cousins and I play while we wait for my mother to finish her work.

17:24 Mother ties up our two cows.

17:50 We all go home.

17:34 She and my brother cut firewood.


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Providing cyclone-resistant classrooms for communities like

Angitas will reduce the impact of future cyclones and break the

cycle of environmental destruction caused by repeated rebuilding.

UNICEF Madagascar is reconstructing and/or rehabilitating cyclone-

damaged classrooms so that they are not only cyclone resistant,

but also child and environment friendly.


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UNICEF in actionMaking a dierence for children in Madagascar


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Schools for Madagascar UNICEF in action 113

In this last section we turn to the solutions that UNICEF Madagascar is implementing to address

the daily challenges being faced by vulnerable children such as Manjo, Dorlys and Angita. UNICEFMadagascar is determined to create environments for learning that are safe and healthy, and where

children can learn and grow with respect for their identities and individual needs. To make Child

Friendly Schools a reality in Madagascar, UNICEF has worked to provide solutions that have an

indigenous basis or origin, recognizing that this is the best approach for ensuring their acceptance

and sustainability within the community.

UNICEF works with local communities, school authorities, non-governmental organisations and

children themselves to develop local definitions of what a Child Friendly School is. In each context,

the challenges are different. But most schools in Madagascar require a combination of community

mobilisation, improved teaching, pedagogical resources and child friendly infrastructures to create

a child friendly learning environment. Some of the approaches developed by UNICEF and its partners

are presented in the following pages.

UNICEF in action

Sharing the responsibility for childrens education


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School-community contracts

Since 2005 UNICEF has worked wit h over 3000 communities in

Madagascar to put in place contracts for school success. The

Contract for School Success is a community mobilisation and

planning approach. It draws on the existing system of customary

social contracts that is found within community life in Madagascar,

through which community members work together to buildroads, dig irrigation dams, transplant rice, etc for the good of the

community as a whole. UNICEF, with the Ministry of National

Education has pioneered the establishment of social contract

programmes in schools, using them to accelerate the achievement

of primary education and to transform primary schools into Child

Friendly Schools.

The Contract process involves the whole community school

principals, teachers, students, parents and community leaders in

an analysis of the problems facing their schools and to plan for their

future. Community members divide into groups to analyze which

issues should be prioritized. Whereas previously the focus would

have been on improving quantitative indicators of school

performance enrollment, repetition and completion rates,

Schools for Madagascar UNICEF in action 115114 UNICEF Madagascar

student-teacher ratios with this community input schools are

now asked to address more qualitative issues: Student health and

safety, child protection, inclusiveness, nutrition, water and

sanitation facilities and the quality of its infrastructure. Having

identied and prioritized the problems in their particular school,

community members propose actions that they themselves can

take towards addressing them. These are consolidated to form aschool action plan and the responsibilities for implementing the

plan are shared out among t he community. Because action plans

dier from one community to the next, some communities may

identify the need to put in place all of the components of Child

Friendly Schools (e.g. inclusiveness, water and sanitation, better

health and nutrition, infrastructure, etc.) while others may decide

they need to put in place only a few of these components.

In Madagascar, where there is such a diversity of cultural,

economic and geographic conditions, the community-school

contract approach has proved very successful in creating lasting

improvements in childrens education because it adapts solutions to

the local contexts and mobilizes local commitment towards change.

The Contract approach has ensured improved access to primary

schools, more children completing their primary education, and

a much greater involvement of parents and communities in their

childrenseducation

discussion about the causes for their exclusion, and what the

community including school personnel and children can do to

include them The project also identies the support these children

support from UNICEF, may put in place new or improved latrines

and potable water sources and ensure that children have a place to

wash their hands The school action plans also include training for

discussed with parentsgroups, local leaders and others. Informed

communities are mobilized to take action, for example, by provi-

ding children with nutritious meals at school canteens often


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children s education.

Increased Inclusiveness

UNICEF makes communities aware that all children have a right to

education, regardless of their gender, ability or level of income, and

emphasizes that all children should be given the opportunity to

develop, learn, and grow alongside their peers.

Exclusion from education remains a major problem in

Madagascar, with many children starting school late and/or

dropping out early due to lack of family income. Many children have

to help their families earn a living, others cannot aord school

materials, and others live in remote areas that do not have a school.

Children, parents and teachers can all play a vital role in solving

exclusion problems, but most are not aware that they have the

power to improve the situation, or know how to plan, implement,

monitor and evaluate their activities in a results-oriented manner.

To promote inclusiveness UNICEF has developed an education

pilot project that uses the Contract for School Success approach to

identify excluded children, and to ensure that the local schools will

meet their needs. The project engages children in mapping children

in their community who are not in school. This is followed by a

include them. The project also identies the support these children

need if they are to be included, whether it is assistance for a

disabled child to get to school or t he provision of notebooks and

pencils to a child whose family cannot aord to buy them. UNICEF

becomes a partner to the communitys eorts by providing the

additional support needed to get excluded children included.

Improved water and sanitationAccess to safe drinking water is a critical issue in Madagascar. In

urban areas 76 percent of the population has access to improved

water sources, in rural areas that number is only 36 percent. Only 18

percent of the urban population and ten percent of the rural

population use appropriate sanitation facilities due to a lack of

alternatives and limited knowledge of possible risks. Sanitation in

education facilities is also extremely limited: Just 13 percent of

public primary schools have access to water and only 24 percent

have latrines.

UNICEF Madagascar uses the meetings and d iscussions involved

in the Contract process to inform community members about the

importance of water and sanitation issues on their childrens health

and schooling. As part of the school action plan, communities, with

wash their hands. The school action plans also include training for

teachers, parents and children in hygiene and sanitation.

Better health and nutrition

UNICEFs work in remote areas of Madagascar has revealed that

problems in schools are not only related to the quality of education,

but also to health and nutrition. Malnutrition is prevalent among

students. Even where access to fruits and vegetables is relativelyeasy, many families have poor diets based, for example, on

breadfruit and rice for long periods of the year.

The eects of malnutrition are evident in the c lassroom: students

are tired and they have diculty concentrating and remembering.

Long-term malnutrition permanently impacts childrens physical,

intellectual and cognitive development, thereby aecting school

achievement and ultimately undermining eorts to improve the

quality of education.

The Contract for School Success has been used to reinforce the

links between education and health issues. Through this approach

schools have received medical visits and nutr ition modules have

been introduced into life skills activities, girls education

programmes, and teacher trainings. Nutrition has also been

ding children with nutritious meals at school canteens often

featuring fresh produce grown in school gardens.

Improving the quality of infrastructure

Madagascars size and current low rate of economic growth means

that communities across Madagascar no longer expect the state to

build new classrooms for their schools. Often, through the Contract

for School Success, communities will decide to build a classroom

when it becomes apparent they need it. The problem arises when

local construction does not comply with the guidelines for child

safety and welfare.

The Ministry of National Education has standards and building

codes for school construction, but with limited budgets it is dicult

for School District and Regional Oces to follow up on each school

being constructed to ensure that standards are met. However, with

a Contract in place, UNICEF can step in to help ll the gap,

extending the reach of School District and Regional Ocials.

UNICEF works with communities that have developed a good action

plan and, for example, initiates discussions on standards expected

and follows up with the technicians responsible for local school

construction on standards for child safety.

Using innovative, child-centred teaching methods


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In Madagascar only 60 percent of students who enter grade one

reach grade ve. In rural and vulnerable areas this gure is even

lower: almost half of the students who enter grade one drop out

before grade three. Repetition rates are also extremely high: 20

percent of children in Madagascar repeat at least one grade of

primary school. These children often end up leaving school when

their parents decide that there will be greater household benet in

the immediate term from the childs labour than any benet they

will derive over the long-term from their child attending school.

To achieve primary education for all in Madagascar, emphasis

must be placed on improving not only access to education, but also

on improving the quality of education in order to reduce rates of

repetition and dropout. UNICEF Madagascar has developed a

number of innovative methods for more child-centred teaching.

Teacher training upgrades

Many children repeat classes or drop out because of their inability

to read and write. One major contributing factor is poor quality

teaching and high numbers of untrained teachers. Many teachers


follow traditional teaching methods and require children to write

letters and words on the blackboard and repeat them in unison.

Madagascars teachers come into the job with a diversity of levels

of prior training and experience. The Ministry of Education (with

UNICEFs support) previously ran an on-the-jobteacher training

strategy that combined training organised in networks with

autonomous, in-class training. The strategy allowed teachers to start

at their appropriate level, and go through a series of modules to

upgradethem to be fully qualied teachers. However, since the

onset of the political crisis in early 2009, the Ministry of Education

has been unable to implement this training strategy.

After the onset of the political crisis, UNICEF began to support

the training networks directly, using a module on active literacy

learning methods. Through this module teachers are provided with

basic skills that help them to make literacy learning fun. For

example, teachers are taught to give children colourful cards on

which they have printed letters, syllables and words. They then

mobilize the children both individually and in groups to put the

cards together to form a variety of words and sentences.

Us g ovat ve, c ld ce t ed teac g et ods

With almost 300 local teacher-trainers and 3000 teachers trained so percent of primary school teachers in Madagascar are fully and promoting the richness and value of Malagasy culture. Most Hand crank/solar radios have been provided to more than 21,000


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far, the results have been remarkable. UNICEF is undertaking

monitoring to measure the resulting reduction in dropout and

repetition rates in the early grades.

Promoting literacy with locally relevant early childhood books

Basic literacy is the key to continued learning, developing oneself,

and contributing to community development. With so many

Malagasy children leaving school without fully being able to read

and write, especially in rural zones, the basic building blocks of

development are not there. While this is due in part to teaching

methods, it is also a result of children living in environments where

they have extremely limited contact with any form of written

materials. Books of any kind are seldom found in classrooms in rural

Madagascar, and there are even fewer books in the local language,

Malagasy, especially for young children.

Studies show that to acquire literacy it is crucial that in their rst

years of schooling children acquire basic reading and writing skills

in their mother language. From the early 1990s French was

designated as the language of instruction for all classes beginning

in the third grade. However, according to one study, only one

competent in French. When neither the teacher nor the student can

understand much French, very little learning can happen. A reform

was introduced in 2008 making Malagasy the language of

instruction in primary schools, with French being taught as a

second language from grade one. The reform has been only

partially implemented. While awaiting its up-scaling UNICEF

continues to look for ways to strengthen educatorsabilities to teach

children how to read and write in their own language.

In 2008 UNICEF Madagascar organised a childrens book writing

contest. Posters announcing the contest were put up in post oces

all over the country and the contest was also announced by radio.

Postage-free envelopes were distributed to every post oce to

enable people from all corners of the island to send in manuscripts

without paying postage. UNICEF received nearly 600 manuscripts.

Of these, 20 were selected, edited and, wit h the help of professional

illustrators and designers, made into storybooks. The books are in

great demand. 7000 copies of each book have already been printed

and requests for more continue to come in.

This project has had a range of positive impacts, from fostering

the skills of local writers, artists, editors and publishers to preserving

important, access to these books has contributed to the develop-

ment of pre-literacy and literacy skills in more than 24,000 young

children who have had access to the books at school or through

lending systems organised in local schools and preschools.

Strengthening the quality of education through edutainment

Since 2007 UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of National

Education and a network of more than 45 local radio stations, has

put out a series of 15 minute radio broadcasts for children aged ve

through nine. Aired twice a week, OiO (named with reference to an

old and well-known Malagasy song) aims to improve educational

quality by strengthening studentsbasic skills in reading, writing

and mathematics, as well as imparting valuable life skills.

Developed with children for children, the programmes take an

edutainmentapproach to learning. They use friendly characters,

stories, songs, skits and games to reinforce what children learn in

school and to deliver values and knowledge that

car stories booklet

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