Summary

There is a great need for resources at all levels of the Malagasy education system. In both urban and rural areas the majority of the population has little or no access to even basic levels of formal education, and the Anosy region where Azafady works has one of highest illiteracy rates (80%) in the country. The rural commune of Mahatalaky is made up of 16 isolated fokontanies, or villages, spread over a vast area. Many have no formal educational facilities and children are forced to walk up to 20 kilometres every day to attend already overcrowded primary schools in neighbouring communities.

Following requests for assistance from numerous villages, Azafady entered into collaboration for this school building project with the Regional Ministry of Education in 2006. Azafady has been providing fully furnished primary school buildings to priority villages, for which the Regional Ministry of Education sources and pays teaching staff. This enables all children in these villages to attend school for at least half a day, every day. Simple sanitation facilities are also provided by Azafady: covered wells provide a safe source of drinking water for the community and a school latrine has separate cubicles for girls and boys, a factor that is proven to increase the attendance of girls in formal education. This school building project is implemented by Azafady's staff and the local community, with assistance from Azafady's international ‘Pioneer’ volunteers.

In 2010-2011 Azafady will mainly be working with two middle schools to provide them with several fully furnished classrooms. These major projects will greatly benefit middle school students in the Anosy region as the new school facilities enhance the quality of their learning environment, thereby improving their higher education and employment prospects.

Lanirano CEG is one of only two public (non-fee paying) middle schools in the urban commune of Fort Dauphin which together serve a population of some 61,000 people. It has 3 separate school buildings containing 6 potential classrooms but ongoing lack of investment has resulted in all but one of these sites being unsafe for use, leaving just 3 operational classrooms for a school of 470 students. The classrooms that are usable frequently have leaking roofs and inadequate furniture, meaning children are required to stand, or sit on the wet floors in order to learn. Azafady is therefore assisting Lanirano CEG by providing 5 new fully furnished classrooms.

Mahatalaky CEG is the only public (non fee-paying) middle school in the rural communes of Mahatalaky and Iabokoho which together contain 20 fokontanies and have a population of over 35,000 people. Mahatalaky CEG has no premises of its own and has been operating out of 2 classrooms in the local primary school to serve some 300 students, while the headmaster has turned over his own house to act as a third classroom for the 50 senior students preparing for their national entrance exam to high school. The primary school is no longer able to operate out of its reduced classrooms and has therefore requested the CEG to vacate their premises, leaving the middle school students without a building. Azafady is therefore assisting Mahatalaky CEG by providing 4 new school buildings containing a total of 8 fully furnished classrooms.

Project Aim

To enable access to formal education for children aged 6-15 years in the Mahatalaky Rural Commune and Fort Dauphin Urban Commune to alleviate poverty and build community capacity in the Anosy region.

Objectives

1. Priority villages have a fully furnished, staffed and operational community school.

2. Students are able to access clean drinking water and sanitation facilities onsite.

Principal Activities

Contractual arrangements
Contracts for the land and for the community's contribution to the project, in the form of labour and provision of locally available construction materials, are drawn up with a community delegation.

Construction
Azafady's construction team provides technical support to the village in the construction of simple school buildings, covered wells and latrines with separate cubicles for girls and boys. Azafady's international ‘Pioneer’ volunteers assist with these construction activities.