Educational Policy Changes and Inequalities in Madagascar: Focusing on the Access to Employment

Abstract

This study aims at investigating how education policy responds to the expansion of the youth population in Madagascar and what issues are encountered in terms of disparity between rural and urban areas using policy documents and reports analysis as well as field research. The results of the study are reported in three parts. The first part deals with the enrollment progress at the primary and secondary school level and its implications. The second part focuses on educational equity considering private school, regional disparities, grade retention and dropout, education spending, teachers' status including gender and educational attainment. The third part discusses education policy and its outcomes by investigating the realities and issues in the rural area of Madagascar with the case of the Itasy Region using interviews on schooling, households, and the access to employment. The results showed that there is a large disparity in the situation of school attendance between urban and rural areas and the subsequent access to occupations. Once political stability is guaranteed, the challenges that await the current government is to ensure the educational opportunities at the secondary school by establishing new schools, training teachers, securing budget for teachers' salaries, and to disseminate teaching materials and education tools. As seen in the case of Itasy, there is no doubt that the completion rate will increase if these education opportunities are improved. Concerning the access to work, adding to the households' economic disparity, social capital has a great influence on school-to-work transition and policy measures are needed for the future. Assuring a more prosperous primary industry for workers and attracting secondary industries to local areas will allow a smoother transition from school to the labor market and slow down the migration to urban areas.