Manjo's Story Part I

Schools forMadagascar

Education Toolkit Madagascar

Making the grade

Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 01

Despite its image as a tropical paradise, Madagascar is anisland with immense challenges. Its population of nearly 20million may live in beautiful surroundings, but the countryremains one of the poorest in the world: Nearly 69% of thepopulation are considered ‘poor’ and 44% ‘extremely poor’.

Education is essential to help lift the population ofMadagascar out of poverty. It begins with working to securea primary education for all by the year 2015.

Up until the political crisis of 2009 Madagascar was ontrack to achieve Education for All. The number of childrenenrolled in primary school had increased from almost 2.5million in 2001-2002 to nearly 4.5 million in 2008-2009. Insuch a poor country these primary school enrollment rateswere particularly impressive.

But the situation is now worsening; most households haveexperienced a loss in revenues and public budgets have beencut. Poverty increases the likelihood of children not atten-ding school, and the depletion in government funds hasmeant a halt to the expansion of access in education and to

improvements in quality. Today, if Madagascar is to achieveMillennium Development Goal (MDG) number two — aprimary education for all by the year 2015 — it will needto rely on increased external support.

Not enough classroomsOne of the major constraints facing primary education inMadagascar is that for every 100 children who enter thefirst grade, only 60 will complete the full five-year cycle.The average Malagasy adult completes only 4.4 years ofschool. The low completion rate is a direct result of a lackof capacity: Madagascar does not have enough trainedteachers and it does not have enough classrooms.

Madagascar will need to build 2000-3000 classroomsevery year between now and 2015 if it is to achieve primaryeducation for all. (This figure does not include rehabilitatingall the classrooms currently damaged or destroyed incyclones). The environmental impact of such a buildingprogram is overwhelming: In a country where deforestation

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


has already claimed almost 90% of the island’s naturalforests, building this many classrooms with traditionaltechniques and local forest materials would be a disaster.

Targeting the most vulnerableUNICEF believes the greatest improvements in educationwill come from targeting vulnerable communities — remotecommunities where children’s access to a complete primaryeducation is the most challenging. Fourteen percent ofcommunities in Madagascar have no school; in 19% of thecountry’s school districts more than 40% of primary schoolsare incomplete, offering only two to three years of educa-tion. In addition, in many school districts cyclones damageor destroy hundreds of classrooms each year. For UNICEF, themore classrooms that can be built and rehabilitated in thesevulnerable areas, the greater the impact on the numbers ofchildren who can attend school. UNICEF’s innovative andenvironmentally friendly building techniques will ensurethat this is not done at the expense of the environment.

However, achieving ‘Education for All’ requires more thansimply building or rehabilitating classrooms. The majority ofpupils in Madagascar study in classrooms with poorly trainedteachers, few learning materials and even fewer amenities:Just 13% of public primary schools have access to water andonly 24% have latrines. UNICEF is working with communitiesand education officials to improve this.

Contracts for successSince 2005 UNICEF has supported the Ministry of NationalEducation (MNE) in developing a participatory, community-based approach to school improvement in more than 3,000primary schools. Principals, teachers, students, parents andcommunity leaders are brought together to identify specificactions to improve education in their community. A ‘Contractfor School Success’ (CPRS) is drawn up where each party liststheir commitments to support the agreed actions. InMadagascar, where there is such a diversity of cultural,economic and geographic conditions, the contracts approach


is the one most likely to lead to lasting improvements inchildren’s education because it adapts solutions to the localcontexts, and mobilizes local commitment to change.

child-friendly schoolsUNICEF promotes child-friendly schools — schools that areconcerned with the whole child and his or her wellbeing asa learner. Such schools consider child-friendly teachingmethods, child protection, health and nutrition, water andsanitation, school environment and safety, environmentalprotection issues, inclusion, non-discrimination and non-violence — in short, all the issues that affect a child’smotivation for coming to school, for staying there, andfor obtaining a quality education.

A better futureUNICEF has an established reputation in Madagascar. Withits considerable influence at both the grassroots and policylevels it is a strong partner to the Education Ministry. It is

capable of introducing effective innovations for improvedaccess to and quality of education. With further financialresources UNICEF can use its influence to help keepeducation in Madagascar on track. UNICEF is in a goodposition to contribute so that Madagascar does not losethe immense gains made in primary school enrollmentand completion in previous years.

In this booklet and its short companion videos (availableat www.unicef.org/infobycountry/madagascar.html), youwill meet children from three vulnerable communities asthey start the new school year. Manjo attends an incompleteschool, Dorlys has no school in her village, and Angita’sclassroom was destroyed in a cyclone. Their stories arerepresentative of the experiences of many children inMadagascar and explain exactly why UNICEF’s approachto education is important.

With your help UNICEF can support the efforts of teachers,parents and children in Madagascar to create a better future.

incomplete cycle schools

In Madagascar, 400,000 children (14%) between the ages ofsix and ten are out of school. Of those that are in school,15% will begin their education in incomplete schools, orschools that offer only two or three years of the completefive-year primary cycle. In poorer regions, like Androy in thearid South of the country, almost half of all primary schoolsare incomplete cycle schools.

Some of the children who attend these schools will go onto continue their education at complete cycle schools, oftenwalking long distances to attend. For most, however, their

Making the grade

education eventually comes to a standstill. The choicesavailable to them are to drop out of school altogether, orto continue to repeat the same grade over and over againin the hope that one day they will be able to move on.

Sam ‘Manjo’ Manjomasy, who you will meet in thefollowing pages, is a student at Ankilimanintsy II primaryschool. It is a small rural school in Androy region that onlyoffers first and second grade. We meet Manjo as he startsthe second grade for the third time, with high hopes thatthis will be the year his school finally makes the grade.


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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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 the second grade again. I really want to goon to grade three, but my school only goes to grade two, and mymother can’t a!ord 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 dropout instead of repeating and repeating. They stay at home and helptheir parents work in the "elds.

I feel sad about having to repeat, but rather than drop out, I preferto stay in grade two. I like to learn, and I believe— I hope— one daythey will send a second teacher to our school and then I will be able tomove on to grade three.

Going to school is good. I can help my mother. She asks me to readletters and count money. She has me write any letters she needs tosend. 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. Nowthey do these things. Before they did not.

Because I know everything we are learning in school it is my job tohelp the teacher: I help her to bring in the school materials at the startof the day and put them away at the end of the day. Sometimes sheasks me to help the younger children with their reading or to keep the"rst grade quiet. I like it because it feels like I am a teacher too.

When I was younger my mother wanted me to be a doctor. Later,when I could think for myself, I decided I wanted to be a policeman. Ilike the look of policemen. I like their uniforms. I also know thatpolicemen have money to buy things. There are policemen on theroad not far from the school. I always see them buying things to eat,like beer and meat. I am not sure howmany years I would have to goto school to become a policeman. Maybe six years? I don’t know. Butwhatever I do— doctor or policeman— I know I can only do it if I goon to the third grade.


0545 My mother wakes usup and I go outside to washmy face and clean my teeth

0600 twice a week the water sellers comewith the cart and I buy water for the family. Twentyliters costs 400 Ariary (20¢ US).


0610 We eat sweet potatoes for breakfastManjo: Damy, what are you doing today?Damy: I am going to look after grandmother’s 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.

0620 I walk to school with the children from ourvillage. We carry water and wood for the canteen.


Vaha HetsagnombeeManjo’s mother

I am very happy that Manjo is starting back to school today. He is theonly one of my three children that goes to school. Manjo’s father diedwhen Manjo was just two years old. So there is no one else at home.That is why I need my other two children—my son Damy who is 14and my daughter Vaha who is ten— at home to help me. They helpme in the "eld and around the house.

Even if I didn’t need their help I could not a!ord to send all three ofthem to school, so I have chosen to send Manjo. He is dynamic andintelligent. 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 matcosts 4000 Ariary (US $2). I can usually make and sell two in a month.We also growmanioc, potatoes, beans and maize. If I just work on themats and don’t do agriculture I can produce four mats in a month, butwhen I also work in the "elds there is only time to make two. Theproduce from our "elds supports us all year round. If the harvest isgood we sell some of it. We do not have any animals — just tenchickens.

When Manjo grows up I want him to be a doctor. Doctors earn a lotof money— and with that Manjo can help me in my life. But when Isend him o! to school every day that is not what I am thinking. I am


just thinking I need him to go to school so he can learn something. Ibelieve that if Manjo learns something he will become a chief one day— an 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 hecan continue his education. I listened to what she said, but then Idismissed 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 wouldcost 3000 Ariary (US $1.50) each month to send him. I can’t a!ord that.

The nearest public school is more than 12 kms away. That wouldn’tcost so much, but it is too far away. Manjo is too young to go so far toschool, and I can’t have him stay there. I need him to come home atthe end of the day because he helps me— and I don’t want him to liveaway from home.

I want Manjo to ‘run after knowledge’. I want him to earn acerti"cate or a diploma and become a doctor. And I believe he will dothese things one day, even if for now he has to repeat.

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


I have been the teacher here for two years. It is a small classroom andit is very crowded with 132 students inside. The parents in thiscommunity worked together to build this classroom with their ownmoney and labor. They wanted their children to be able to go toschool, but they didn’t have enough money to build a secondclassroom or to make this one bigger. Nor was there money to build alatrine.

It is really hard to teach so many children. It is especially hard tosupervise what they are doing. Every child is di!erent and some ofthem have problems. I need to work with them individually, but I can’t.The second graders sit in the desks. Most of the "rst graders sit on the#oor. There are so many of them that I can’t even get to where theyare sitting. I have asked the district education chief to send anotherteacher to help me, but I am not sure if that will happen or not.

When the children here "nish grade two, if their parents haveenough money, they can send them to school in Ambovombe(15 kms away). If their parents don’t have money the children stayhere and repeat grade two with the hope that one day the districteducation o$ce will send another teacher. If a new teacher comes wecan open grade three.

This year I have ten children repeating the second grade. Someparents take their children out of school and have them help at home

rather than have them keep repeating. Other parents prefer to keepsending them because they hope that one day grade three will open.

Most of the parents here believe that it is important to send theirchildren to school, even if means repeating the same grade. They wantto see them going to school. They know it is a bene"t.

Manjo is a good example. He is an excellent student. By now hewould be in grade "ve if he could have continued to progress in hiseducation. Last year, and the year before that, I told Manjo and hismother that they should send him to another school. Manjo said ‘No. Iknow that my mother does not have the money to send meto another school. I will stay here until they open grade three.’

Manjo is the leader of the class. He helps me with the youngerchildren by listening to them read and keeping them in order.When I need someone to help me in any way— for example, to gowith the children to do agriculture—Manjo is my assistant.

I am sad. I worry that soon it will be too late for him to "nish hiseducation. That’s why I keep telling him to go to school elsewhere. Buthe says ‘No, I have to stay.’ I really want to see him get an education. Ihave even thought about paying for this myself, but I don’t have themoney to send him to school elsewhere. That is why I have insistedthat the district education chief send us another teacher and then weopen the third grade.

Mameno RovaTeacher, Ankilimanintsy II primary school


0650 We clean the classroom,then we line up. We raise theflag and sing the national song.

0705 The teacher takesattendance.


0830 The teacher asks me to help someof the first-graders with their reading.

0912 The teacher reads to the class.

UNICEF plans to complete over 1,000 child-friendly schoolsby 2013. These schools will have:

- a maximum of 50 children per classroom

- library books, classroom kits and teaching materials

- one latrine for every 50 girls

- one latrine for every 50 boys

- sustainable water points

Manjo's Story Part I

Education

Transcript of Manjo's Story Part I