Madagascar's Education Crisis ^{CEFR B2}

Madagascars education system has eroded over the past 20 years, creating constraints across levels and weakening the countrys development prospects. Primary education is particularly fragile: only 66.6 percent of girls and 60.6 percent of boys complete primary school, while only 25 percent of children can read proficiently after primary. Repetition in public schools is high at 25.3 percent.

Key causes include the large role of underqualified community teachers (FRAM), who made up about 60 percent of the primary and preschool workforce in 2024, and chronic infrastructure shortfalls. In remote areas there may be no school or only a single three-classroom facility. Cyclones destroy 1,000–2,000 classrooms each year. Public spending on education is only 2.8 to 3 percent of GDP and research receives 0.1 percent, below the regional average of 3.7 percent and far below high-income countries at about 5 percent.

Higher education faces structural strain: roughly 70 percent of university courses are taught by non-civil servant faculty, many staff endured unpaid salaries, and May 2024 demonstrations at ESPA and other public universities demanded delayed scholarships and dormitory repairs. Graduates face difficult job markets: youth aged 15–30 make up 70 percent of the unemployed, many work outside their fields, and thousands emigrate to countries such as France, Canada and Mauritius.

• Experts recommend increasing funding, hiring and training teachers, and formalising qualified FRAM roles.
• They also call for better faculty support, improved campus infrastructure, allowances and stronger research capacity.
• Raising the share of qualified teachers should improve learning and support GDP per capita growth.