MADAGASCAR
MADAGASCAR
School Struggles
Schooling in Madagascar should be compulsory between 6–14 years, with the first six years at primary school, followed by three years at junior secondary level.
However, children from poorer families may not be able to attend school. This is more common since much international funding was stopped after a coup in 2009. Since then schools have received less money from the government and some have begun charging fees to make up for lost income. This has caused enrollment rates at primary school to drop over the last few years.
Schooling in Madagascar should be compulsory between 6–14 years, with the first six years at primary school, followed by three years at junior secondary level.
However, children from poorer families may not be able to attend school. This is more common since much international funding was stopped after a coup in 2009. Since then schools have received less money from the government and some have begun charging fees to make up for lost income. This has caused enrollment rates at primary school to drop over the last few years.
The quality of education is also very variable. Many teachers are ‘community teachers’ which means they have no formal training. Less than two-thirds of children in Madagascar pass the end-of-primary school exam.
SCHOOL SYSTEM
Madagascar operates on a 5-4-3-4 system:
Madagascar education includes a number of schools, colleges and
universities. Madagascar education is mandatory for the children between the
age group of 6 to 14.
The duration of primary education in Madagascar is 5 years. The
elementary education is provided to the children of the age group of 6 to 11.
The duration of secondary education in Madagascar is 7 years. The secondary
education is divided into a junior secondary stage and a senior secondary
stage. Children from 12 to 15 years attend the junior secondary stage and
children from 16 to 18 years attend the senior secondary stage. The duration of
the junior secondary stage is 4 years and for senior secondary stage, the
duration is 3 years. After the completion of junior level, certificates are
received by the graduates. After completing senior secondary, baccalaureate is
received by the graduates. The schools of Madagascar include the American
School of Antananarivo, Russian Embassy School, American High School, etc.
In Madagascar, education is mandatory for the children of age
group between six to fourteen years. The primary schools of Madagascar impart
elementary education to children between the age group of six to eleven. The
secondary schools of Madagascar impart secondary education to the children
between the age group of twelve to eighteen years.
Language
Madagascar’s official
language of instruction has been successively switching from French to Malagasy
over the past years. At a given time, during the 70’s and 80’s, the Government
of Madagascar attempted to use Malagasy as the only medium of instruction which
later turned out to be a failure. Thus, the following decade witnessed a strong
push for French even in public schools. However, French has not totally
overshadowed Malagasy. In addition to this well-established bilingualism in the
Malagasy education, the Government has recently announced English as the third
official language of the country. Introduction of English in primary schools
has become one of the current focal points of the global government policy.
However, French remains the major language of instruction as far as tertiary
education is concerned.
Pre-Primary & Primary Education
Unlike the schooling
systems of other countries in the world, elementary education takes 12 years in
Madagascar. The Malagasy have adopted the same system but did not adapt it
creatively and economically.
Children whose age is between 6 and 14 receive compulsory education. Those aged
6 to 11 are the ones who study compulsory primary education requirements.
Primary school takes 12 years to complete because of the repetition policy.
Though girls' access to educational opportunity is equal to that of boys, more
emphasis is placed on males to succeed. This is indicative of the patriarchal
and cultural preferences of the indigenous society.
Secondary Education
The curriculum, structures, academic standards, and other values
of the secondary school enterprise in Madagascar are modeled on the French high
school education system.
Secondary education takes seven years to complete. There are two
levels of secondary school education system. The first level is the junior
secondary level, which takes four years to complete. The students at this level
are 12 to 15 years old. Those who do senior secondary level for three years are
between 16 and 18 years old. At the end of their junior level, the students get
their certificate. Alternatively, the senior level graduates receive the baccalauréat which
is a high school diploma. Junior level graduates who go for vocational training
receive professional certificate called college professionelle, while
senior level secondary graduates who are admitted to the technical college (college
technique) receive a technical diploma called baccalauréat
technique.
The junior secondary school curriculum consists of mathematics,
natural science, Malagasy language, civics and religion, some French and
English, history, geography and arts, and physical education. The course
offerings, in terms academic load per week, vary from subject to subject in
terms of their hierarchy in Madagascar's socioeconomic and
political-psychological dynamics. The same cultural dynamic influences the
structure and delivery mode of the senior secondary curriculum. The curriculum
includes advanced mathematics, natural science, introduction to technology,
French, malagache, history, geography, civics, religion, and physical
education.
In both the primary and secondary schools, the ratio of students
to teachers varies from city to city and from province to province. In
addition, this ratio is also further influenced by economic and cultural
ingredients within specific cities, counties, districts, and locations. In
other words, parental and cultural attitudes toward school in the various
administrative and politically established local units reinforce or discourage
school attendance and thereby contributing to specific ratios in full-time
equivalent measures. For instance parental and cultural attitudes regarding the
education of males as opposed to that of females tend to perpetuate patriarchal
elements of sexist traditionalism that favor female domesticity and
reproduction rather than empowerment and social mobility.
Higher Education
Because Madagascar was a French colony, its post-colonial
intellectual elite possessed academic credentials from a variety of French
schools as well as the leading universities of Paris, Toulon, Marseilles,
Montpellier, Pointers, and La Reunion.
Philosophically, the University of Madagascar's reason for
existence is rooted in the dynamic and synergistic fusion of the European,
Continental (African), and Malagasy cultural and scientific heritage. The
University's goals for rationalizing the heritage include but are not limited
to:
- Maintaining
adherence and loyalty to global academic standards.
- Ensuring
the unification of the African continent.
- Using
research, teaching, and scientific knowledge to dispel misconceptions
about Africa, its culture, people, and heritage.
- Using
a variety of resources for training people to develop skills that are
essential for meeting the development needs of the nation.
- Training
well-rounded human beings for nation building.
- Progressively
evolving an excellent higher education system that can become a model for
evaluation.
- Using
science and technology for the advancement of human learning and solution
of complex social, economic, and cultural difficulties.
At present, the university system of Madagascar has several
faculties of which law, economics, sciences, letters, and human sciences are
dominant. The university system has many schools that specialize in public
administration, management, medicine, social welfare, public works, and
agronomy. Schools are further subdivided into departments. For instance, at the
University of Fianarantsoa, there are more than 20 departments, including
architecture and urbanism, building public works, electronic engineering, geology,
hydraulics, meteorology, mines, materials, metallurgic sciences,
telecommunications, optical physics, applied physics, energetics, industrial
relations, and international relations. The university has 200 faculty members,
of whom 120 are permanent while the rest are irregulars who work in technical
ministries and professional industries.
French is the language used in all universities. Students take
eight to ten years to complete the first degree. The baccalaureate is required
for admission to the university. In African countries, it takes five years
rather than the eight to ten years it takes in Madagascar. In 1994, there were
40,000 students enrolled in the country's university system. It is believed
that at the time, the actual institutional capacity was 26,000 rather than the
40,000. This was considered overcrowding, for which the system has been
severely criticized. Of those who are admitted, only 10 percent matriculate. In
other words, turnover, failures, and repetitions are increasingly and economically
massive and unwarranted. They are unwarranted because they reflect faulty
investment and poor economic planning, which negatively impacts the poor nation
as a whole. Though reform measures are being implemented, they have not been
substantially effective.
The university system offers diplomas, certificates, and degrees
of all kinds. Though most students complete the first degree, a few study the
graduate and doctoral programs that are necessary for elite professional
careers in the nation's institutions and organizations.
Grading System in Madagascar
Main grading system used by higher education instructions:
Marking scale: 0 (zero) to 20; 20 being the highest score
Passing scale: 10 out of 20
Grading system for thesis defense:
10-12: Passing;
12-14: Honorable mention;
14-16: Honors;
16-18: High Honors:
18 and above: Superior Honors
Degrees:
Licence, a three-year degree (not to be confounded with Bachelor’s degree)
Maitrise, 4-year degree (equivalent to the US Bachelor’s)
Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies (equivalent to the US Master’s degree)
Doctorat, Ph. D level degree (only could be earned in a very few fields of study)
Teaching Profession
Teacher education is post secondary professional education that
senior level high school graduates train for and matriculate in. There are
seven teacher training colleges in Madagascar that train teachers for primary
schools. Secondary school teachers have degrees from the island's six
provincial universities. Several other colleges that train people in
agriculture, business and industry, and a variety of vocational activities are
scattered all over the island.
Graduate students who prepare to be teachers in secondary schools
attend training colleges to complete master of arts degrees. Their curriculum
places an emphasis on reflection, observation, self-evaluation, experiential
learning, and skill improvement.
The quality of education is also very variable. Many teachers are ‘community teachers’ which means they have no formal training. Less than two-thirds of children in Madagascar pass the end-of-primary school exam.
SCHOOL SYSTEM
Madagascar education includes a number of schools, colleges and
universities. Madagascar education is mandatory for the children between the
age group of 6 to 14.
The duration of primary education in Madagascar is 5 years. The
elementary education is provided to the children of the age group of 6 to 11.
The duration of secondary education in Madagascar is 7 years. The secondary
education is divided into a junior secondary stage and a senior secondary
stage. Children from 12 to 15 years attend the junior secondary stage and
children from 16 to 18 years attend the senior secondary stage. The duration of
the junior secondary stage is 4 years and for senior secondary stage, the
duration is 3 years. After the completion of junior level, certificates are
received by the graduates. After completing senior secondary, baccalaureate is
received by the graduates. The schools of Madagascar include the American
School of Antananarivo, Russian Embassy School, American High School, etc.
In Madagascar, education is mandatory for the children of age
group between six to fourteen years. The primary schools of Madagascar impart
elementary education to children between the age group of six to eleven. The
secondary schools of Madagascar impart secondary education to the children
between the age group of twelve to eighteen years.
Secondary education is classified into junior secondary stage and
senior secondary stage. The duration of junior secondary stage is four years
and the duration of senior secondary stage is three years. Junior secondary
stage is attended by the children of the age group between twelve to fifteen
years and senior secondary stage is attended by the children of the age group
between sixteen to eighteen years. Certificates are received by graduates after
completing their junior secondary stage. Baccalaureate is received by the
graduates after the completion of senior secondary stage.
Language
Madagascar’s official
language of instruction has been successively switching from French to Malagasy
over the past years. At a given time, during the 70’s and 80’s, the Government
of Madagascar attempted to use Malagasy as the only medium of instruction which
later turned out to be a failure. Thus, the following decade witnessed a strong
push for French even in public schools. However, French has not totally
overshadowed Malagasy. In addition to this well-established bilingualism in the
Malagasy education, the Government has recently announced English as the third
official language of the country. Introduction of English in primary schools
has become one of the current focal points of the global government policy.
However, French remains the major language of instruction as far as tertiary
education is concerned.
Pre-Primary & Primary Education
Unlike the schooling
systems of other countries in the world, elementary education takes 12 years in
Madagascar. The Malagasy have adopted the same system but did not adapt it
creatively and economically.
Children whose age is between 6 and 14 receive compulsory education. Those aged
6 to 11 are the ones who study compulsory primary education requirements.
Primary school takes 12 years to complete because of the repetition policy.
Though girls' access to educational opportunity is equal to that of boys, more
emphasis is placed on males to succeed. This is indicative of the patriarchal
and cultural preferences of the indigenous society.
The curriculum, structures, academic standards, and other values
of the secondary school enterprise in Madagascar are modeled on the French high
school education system.
Secondary education takes seven years to complete. There are two
levels of secondary school education system. The first level is the junior
secondary level, which takes four years to complete. The students at this level
are 12 to 15 years old. Those who do senior secondary level for three years are
between 16 and 18 years old. At the end of their junior level, the students get
their certificate. Alternatively, the senior level graduates receive the baccalauréat which
is a high school diploma. Junior level graduates who go for vocational training
receive professional certificate called college professionelle, while
senior level secondary graduates who are admitted to the technical college (college
technique) receive a technical diploma called baccalauréat
technique.
The junior secondary school curriculum consists of mathematics,
natural science, Malagasy language, civics and religion, some French and
English, history, geography and arts, and physical education. The course
offerings, in terms academic load per week, vary from subject to subject in
terms of their hierarchy in Madagascar's socioeconomic and
political-psychological dynamics. The same cultural dynamic influences the
structure and delivery mode of the senior secondary curriculum. The curriculum
includes advanced mathematics, natural science, introduction to technology,
French, malagache, history, geography, civics, religion, and physical
education.
In both the primary and secondary schools, the ratio of students
to teachers varies from city to city and from province to province. In
addition, this ratio is also further influenced by economic and cultural
ingredients within specific cities, counties, districts, and locations. In
other words, parental and cultural attitudes toward school in the various
administrative and politically established local units reinforce or discourage
school attendance and thereby contributing to specific ratios in full-time
equivalent measures. For instance parental and cultural attitudes regarding the
education of males as opposed to that of females tend to perpetuate patriarchal
elements of sexist traditionalism that favor female domesticity and
reproduction rather than empowerment and social mobility.
Because Madagascar was a French colony, its post-colonial
intellectual elite possessed academic credentials from a variety of French
schools as well as the leading universities of Paris, Toulon, Marseilles,
Montpellier, Pointers, and La Reunion.
Philosophically, the University of Madagascar's reason for
existence is rooted in the dynamic and synergistic fusion of the European,
Continental (African), and Malagasy cultural and scientific heritage. The
University's goals for rationalizing the heritage include but are not limited
to:
At present, the university system of Madagascar has several
faculties of which law, economics, sciences, letters, and human sciences are
dominant. The university system has many schools that specialize in public
administration, management, medicine, social welfare, public works, and
agronomy. Schools are further subdivided into departments. For instance, at the
University of Fianarantsoa, there are more than 20 departments, including
architecture and urbanism, building public works, electronic engineering, geology,
hydraulics, meteorology, mines, materials, metallurgic sciences,
telecommunications, optical physics, applied physics, energetics, industrial
relations, and international relations. The university has 200 faculty members,
of whom 120 are permanent while the rest are irregulars who work in technical
ministries and professional industries.
French is the language used in all universities. Students take
eight to ten years to complete the first degree. The baccalaureate is required
for admission to the university. In African countries, it takes five years
rather than the eight to ten years it takes in Madagascar. In 1994, there were
40,000 students enrolled in the country's university system. It is believed
that at the time, the actual institutional capacity was 26,000 rather than the
40,000. This was considered overcrowding, for which the system has been
severely criticized. Of those who are admitted, only 10 percent matriculate. In
other words, turnover, failures, and repetitions are increasingly and economically
massive and unwarranted. They are unwarranted because they reflect faulty
investment and poor economic planning, which negatively impacts the poor nation
as a whole. Though reform measures are being implemented, they have not been
substantially effective.
The university system offers diplomas, certificates, and degrees
of all kinds. Though most students complete the first degree, a few study the
graduate and doctoral programs that are necessary for elite professional
careers in the nation's institutions and organizations.
Teacher education is post secondary professional education that
senior level high school graduates train for and matriculate in. There are
seven teacher training colleges in Madagascar that train teachers for primary
schools. Secondary school teachers have degrees from the island's six
provincial universities. Several other colleges that train people in
agriculture, business and industry, and a variety of vocational activities are
scattered all over the island.
Graduate students who prepare to be teachers in secondary schools
attend training colleges to complete master of arts degrees. Their curriculum
places an emphasis on reflection, observation, self-evaluation, experiential
learning, and skill improvement.
REFLECTION
“Poverty is not a hindrance to education.” This is what I
have reflected upon knowing the education in Madagascar. Poverty does not stop
them from learning. In fact, they use it as a motivation to study hard. It is
so inspiring that despite of the poverty they are facing, still their
government gives them a quality education. I can really say that most students in our country are lucky enough because we can go to school and we have a lot of learning materials to use unlike in their country. It also makes me sad that those students who have an opportunity to go to school and are financially supported by their parents are not doing well in the school.
I have also learned that education is really important in
everyone's life. It is the greatest treasure that we can achieve. We should not
take it for granted because not all people have the opportunity in education.
We must take advantage of what we can gain or learn from it because it’s also
for our betterment. We should value what we are learning because we can make
use of this in helping others to learn.
Indeed, we all have the right to education no matter what economic
status we have. Even though there are some obstacles that may hinder us in
having education, we must not let it discourage us to continue learning. We must
make it as an inspiration to strive more in order to succeed. As a
future teacher, I will inculcate to the minds of my students that poverty is
not a gigantic blockade for them to study and the best thing that they can do
to uplift themselves is through education.
REFLECTION
“Poverty is not a hindrance to education.” This is what I
have reflected upon knowing the education in Madagascar. Poverty does not stop
them from learning. In fact, they use it as a motivation to study hard. It is
so inspiring that despite of the poverty they are facing, still their
government gives them a quality education. I can really say that most students in our country are lucky enough because we can go to school and we have a lot of learning materials to use unlike in their country. It also makes me sad that those students who have an opportunity to go to school and are financially supported by their parents are not doing well in the school.
I have also learned that education is really important in
everyone's life. It is the greatest treasure that we can achieve. We should not
take it for granted because not all people have the opportunity in education.
We must take advantage of what we can gain or learn from it because it’s also
for our betterment. We should value what we are learning because we can make
use of this in helping others to learn.
Indeed, we all have the right to education no matter what economic
status we have. Even though there are some obstacles that may hinder us in
having education, we must not let it discourage us to continue learning. We must
make it as an inspiration to strive more in order to succeed. As a
future teacher, I will inculcate to the minds of my students that poverty is
not a gigantic blockade for them to study and the best thing that they can do
to uplift themselves is through education.
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