Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 20

Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 21

NamorisoaPresident, Ankilimanintsy II village

As the president of this village it is my role to motivate the parents tosend their children to school. Sending children to school is importantfor the development of our village and our district.

Before we were in the dark. Our minds were closed. But nowmostparents are convinced that education is very important. It used to bethat the culture of our area emphasized the importance of cattle:Cattle were important and all of the children were sent out to watchthem. But that has changed. In recent years many cattle have beenstolen and the environment is drier than it used to be. Now there arenot enough cattle.

Most of the parents in this village never went to school. But nowthat there are fewer cattle they see that it is important to send theirchildren to school, so that they learn other things. They see that this isnecessary— that their children can open their minds to receive newthings 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 theirchildren out with the cattle. They think ‘If I have "ve children, I canhave one help with the cooking, one keep the cows, one stay with thesmall children and the other two 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.’Whenparents see changes in their school-going children— in what they

know, the way they carry themselves and how they keep themselvesclean— they are motivated to send the others.

When we built Ankilimanintsy II school the parents were motivatedto help. There was no school in the village and each family — if theyhad enough money— contributed ten pieces of wood. The classroomis small, but we cannot a!ord to build another. This is one of the mainreasons that this is an incomplete cycle school. The other is the lack ofa second teacher.

I know all about not being able to complete your education. Myparents stopped me going to school when I was in grade four. Some ofmy classmates continued and now they are living and working outsidethe country as doctors and in other jobs. I may be the Village Presidentand the most educated man in this village, but when I see what myfriends achieved it makes me sad. If I had been able to continue Imight have done so much more.

This is why I push children to go to school —my children and thechildren of this village. This is why we worked together to build thisschool. But now when I see children like Manjo repeating the sameclass again and again, I see my own situation and I feel sad all overagain. I worry that they may not have the opportunity to continuetheir studies. It is because of Manjo and the others like him that wekeep "ghting to have grade three here.

Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 22

0918 Every school day,two parents from thecommunity take it in turnto cook rice and lentilsfor us.

0930 I bring the dishesto the canteen and theyserve the food.

Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 23

0933 Some of the water we bring toschool is used for washing our handsbefore we eat.

0935 ‘Slow down!’ theteacher always tells us.‘Don’t eat so fast!’

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0942 Recess

Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 26

Helene RamanantenasoaPedagogic Counsellor, Ambovombe district

Before, parents in Ambovombe district were not interested in sendingtheir children to school. When UNICEF started work in this district in1994 there were only 70 schools. Now there are 239.

It is good that so many parents want to send their children toschool. The problem is that the government doesn’t have the funds tobuild all of the classrooms that are needed. So this job is falling to theparents; they can’t wait for the government if they want their childrento go to school. So, in communities like this one, they organizethemselves 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, thereare not enough classrooms. In this area building materials are scarceand costly. They can’t make bricks here. Cement is available in town,but it is expensive and hard to transport to remote areas. Also, there isvery little water here. How can you make cement without water?Wood is scarce and expensive because the forests have beendestroyed. This is why the parents can only a!ord to build a smallclassroom.

The second reason for the large number of incomplete schools isthat there are not enough teachers. This situation is easier to resolve. Ifthere 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 onlycomplete a few grades and then they are stuck. If you only get aneducation through grade two or three, there is a risk that you will fallback again into illiteracy. There are studies that say that you need aminimum 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:organizing the community to build the schools. The parents wouldbuy what materials they can. And if, for example, they can’t a!ord tobuy cement, they can go to the mayor of the community and ask himif he will participate by buying cement, and go to the districteducation chief to ask if he will give part of the roof if he can. In otherwords, they organize themselves and negotiate the economics withinthe community.

Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 28

But even if they did this, these parents have no idea how toorganize and manage those who would construct the school. If wecan teach them how to do this, they can proceed on their own. Buteven then, the schools will need to be renewed or rebuilt every yearor two, depending on the weather. So another idea is to ask organi-zations like UNICEF to help us build durable schools — schools thatwould 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 encouragecommunity participation. The CPRS or ‘contract for school success’ isthe biggest bene"t of our collaboration. The CPRS encourages theparticipation of all the community members— parents, localauthorities, the district education chief, teachers and children— inorder to promote education.

This starts even before they build a school. The community has ameeting and the stakeholders discuss the problems of education intheir community. When everyone understands the problems childrenwill face if they don’t go to school, and know what they can do to

help, everyone inevitably agrees to build the school because they areaware of the bene"ts it will bring. This means that even if it costs themtime or money, they will participate willingly because they understandwhy they are doing it. Without this — if you only dictate to them—they will not be motivated. That is why the CPRS is so important.

In the future I would like UNICEF to help us to improve the qualityof education in Madagascar. Children need to knowmore thanreading, writing, calculating and speaking French. They need life skills.Their parents should see that there is a di!erence if children go toschool. Children should acquire some knowledge, some competenciesthat help them in their lives. They should also learn some activitiesthat will help them to "nd employment when they "nish school.

I would like to see one other thing happen— and I hope UNICEFcan help with this: I would like to situate junior secondary schoolsnearer to primary schools. To go to primary school children walk, onaverage, three to four kms each way. To go to secondary schools theyoften walk as far as 10-15 kms. More children could continue theireducation if schools were not so far away.

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1210 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.

1335 Setting off for the field

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1742 Homework

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

Liatinataea teacher

Makaa district education officer

Soabinagoea teacher

Schools for Madagascar Making the grade 34

Manatenasoaa teacher

Fisaoratsoaa midwife

Manjoa policeman

Manjo and generations of children following him need acomplete primary education if they are to have a chanceto achieve their dreams.

With your help, by 2013 UNICEF Madagascar will complete180 incomplete cycle schools.

This is part of a larger UNICEF initiative to complete morethan 1200 child-friendly schools in Madagascar by 2013.By equipping them with the amenities, staff and materialsneeded to provide a quality education, UNICEF will have adirect impact on more than 125,000 children by 2013, andon many more in the generations to come.

For further information contact

UNICEF MadagascarMaison commune des Nations UniesZone Galaxy AndraharoAntananarivo 101MadagascarTel : 261 20 23 300 92/93/04antananarivo@unicef.orgwww.unicef.org

Photography, words & design: Kelley Lynchwww.kelleyslynch.com