Summary

Madagascar is one of the most impoverished and least developed countries in the world. Fort Dauphin is the urban centre of Anosy in the south east of the island. Access to education facilities and employment opportunities is severely limited. Lack of access to vital livelihoods resources has been exacerbated by the effects of Madagascar's ongoing political crisis, with public service spending cuts particularly impacting children and education (UNICEF, 2010). Under the current education system those who do not pass their end of year exams twice in a row (exceptionally difficult given lack of resources) are expelled from public school, leaving them no educational option other than private fee-paying schools which are far beyond the capacity of most families. There is therefore a vital need for improvements to the quality of education available in public schools in Fort Dauphin.

English language teaching is an important component of the Malagasy education system – English is part of the national curriculum and passing the Baccalaureate exam, which is vital if students are to have any hope of accessing higher education and/or competing for extremely limited employment opportunities, requires a high standard of English. Within Fort Dauphin there is a chronic lack of skilled English teachers and little in the way of institutional development or training to support teachers to meet the requirements of the national curriculum. As a result the human resource base and economic development of the town is limited, with current systems and lack of capacity exacerbating a situation of chronic poverty for the community.

Project Mampianatra builds on Azafady's previous English teaching programme by employing a dedicated long-term English teaching coordinator who is permanently based in Fort Dauphin to ensure consistent management of all project activities. They are also responsible for coordinating international volunteers who either contribute to Project Mampianatra by coming to Fort Dauphin for at least 6 months to assist with core project activities (must be TEFL-qualified) or alternatively participate in the short-term scheme for just 2-3 weeks.

Purpose

To increase the long-term sustainability of Azafady's English teaching programme in order to build the local human resource base and promote economic development in Fort Dauphin.

Project Aims

1. To build institutional capacity among middle school teachers in Fort Dauphin through English language training sessions and regular classroom support.
2. To strengthen the human resource base in Fort Dauphin through intensive English language lessons for high school Baccalaureate students.
3. To build Azafady's organisational capacity and facilitate professional development of local staff through English language lessons.

Principal Activities

Middle school teachers
English language training sessions and classroom support are being provided to 7 teachers from all 3 public middle schools in Fort Dauphin. They are receiving 2 hours of English language training every week in addition to regular classroom supervision and support. This is building their capacity to deliver quality English lessons to their students in line with the national curriculum through a “teach the teacher” approach that maximises the impact of this project activity.

High school Baccalaureate students
English language lessons are being provided to 2 final year (terminale) classes at the town's public high school (lycée). Both classes are receiving 2 hours of intensive English language classes every week to help prepare them for their Baccalaureate exam.

Azafady's local staff
English language lessons are being provided to 25 of Azafady's local staff on a rotating basis (with a total of 4 lessons being provided every week in 8 week periods) to facilitate their professional development and build organisational capacity by empowering them to become more independent in securing international project funding.

Unemployed adults and primary school children
English clubs are run for unemployed adults and primary school children by short-term (2-3 weeks) international volunteers. Long term (minimum 6 months) TEFL-qualified volunteer English teachers assist with core project activities while also helping to set up and run these special English clubs.