Madagascar

Improving the quality of education for middle school students in rural areas

In rural areas of the country, only 1% of Malagasy youth obtain a Bachelor’s degree. In 2021, to improve the quality of education in the country, BSF deployed an Ideas Box at the university campus in Fianarantsoa and five Ideas Cubes in several boarding schools in the region, managed by the IECD and the PROMES association. Trained by our teams, local teachers and educators have used our tools and media content to improve their teaching practices and fight against school dropout rates.

Alliance 3.0: Ideas Cube in French Alliances

Since the summer of 2017, Libraries Without Borders has been working in collaboration with the Alliance Française Foundation to boost the Alliance Française’s Malagasy, Mauritanian, and South African media library networks and thus facilitate the learning of French. In the fall of 2017, our team installed Ideas Cube kits within these three networks and trained the corresponding facilitators. Since then, these three Alliance Française networks have been organizing dozens of activities per month, inspired by the content LWB selected for the Ideas Cube. Besides language-learning activities, some sites offer other kinds of programming, including offsite events. That is the case of the Alliance Française of Antsirabe, which contributed to a university forum geared towards professional preparation for young people. Also, the Foundation has created a best practice community to connect the three networks and LWB, which accompanies them in the implementation of their activities and provides them with technical support when it is necessary. This community allows them to share their experiences and discuss activities; it is today proof of the progressive and certain appropriation of the device by the three Alliance Française networks.

Support for the creation of six school libraries at Antsohihy

In 2010, Libraries Without Borders helped establish school libraries in six kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools in the region of Antsohihy, in the northwest of Madagascar, with the help of the Madagascar Mutual Aid Association.

Our team selected and sent 2,500 books and many others in Malagasy were bought on site. We have also trained managers and facilitators  from different libraries; nearly 5,500 students and teachers can now benefit from these libraries on a daily basis.

Libraries in two rehabilitation centers for children on the streets of Antananarivo

The association Graines de Bitume (Seeds of Asphalt) created two welcome centers for children from the streets of Antananarivo. In 2010, Libraries Without Borders collaborated with  this association in the creation of library spaces: 2,500 works were selected and sent, and 200 more were specially purchased in Madagascar. We have also donated computer equipment, supported the digitalization of catalogues, and trained library personnel in basic library management.

Our Work in Madagascar


Supporting the Creation of Six Small Libraries in Antsohihy

Objective

Education & Cultural Diversity


Start date


Status

Closed


CONTEXT

Many students attend the schools of the Antsohihy region of northwest Madagascar. Supported by the Madagascar Mutual Aid Association, these schools presently service 1102 primary and 1150 secondary school pupils in Antsohihy. They are distributed as follows: 710 pupils at three sites in Analalava, 2100 pupils in Bealanana and 180 pupils in Antaimoara.

These establishments desperately lack the material and books needed to respond to the pedagogical needs of teachers and students alike.

LWB has supported the creation of small school libraries in these establishments through the targeted donation of books and by training the teachers responsible for running the libraries.

OBJECTIVES

  • To encourage access to education and training.
  • To support the development of reading among young people in Madagascar.
  • To support the organization of the Malagasy book supply chain.

ACTIONS

  • Targeted collection and contribution of 2500 books.
  • Purchase of Malagasy books on site.
  • Provision of library materials and equipment.
  • Training of the library staff.

BENEFICIARIES

The 5242 pupils in the school network of the Antsohihy region.

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Madagascar Mutual Aid Association

Libraries for At-Risk Youth in Antananarivo

Objective

Education & Cultural Diversity


Start date


Status

Closed


BACKGROUND

The Graines de Bitume Association has created two centers for the street children of Antananarivo. The objective of these spaces is to promote education among these children and help them to choose a career.

The creation of library spaces is part of the centers’ educational approach and responds to the following requirements:

  • Encouraging school attendance and training among these young people in the best conditions.
  • Participating in their cultural enrichment.

OBJECTIVES

  • Promotion of reading among young people in Madagascar.
  • Assisting the reintegration of at-risk young Madagascans.
  • Supporting the local book supply chain and the local initiatives in the area of education and access to books via the training program.

ACTIONS

  • Targeted collection and delivery of 2500 books.
  • Purchase of 200 books published in Madagascar.
  • Donation of library and computer material.
  • Computerization of catalogs and creation of a network joining the two libraries.
  • Training of library staff in how to run a library.

BENEFICIARIES

  • The street children of Antananarivo who frequent the Graines de Bitume Association (around 200 young people in 2009) and their families.
  • Library staff and volunteers.

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Graines de Bitume Association