LOCATION
FIANARANTSOA – MADAGASCAR
LOCAL PARTNER
PROMES (Association for economic and social promotion)
I joined the CERES Programme, at Saint Jean Bosco College in Alakamisy Itenina. I wanted to follow the example of my elder brothers, who were already beneficiaries.
After completing my Baccalauréat, I plan to pursue studies in computer science at the School of Management and Technological Innovation in Fianarantsoa. Without CERES, I might have studied, but I would not have had the same opportunities: a prestigious school, a student residence, independence, and a sense of responsibility.
Never forget: education is the best guarantee for the future, for one’s family, and for generations to come.
Stéphane Charlot, a young beneficiary of the CERES Programme.
The CERES project: promoting access to quality education for disadvantaged rural youth
In rural areas of Madagascar, more than one in two students entering secondary school do not reach Year 10, and only one in 100 completes the Baccalauréat. Education in these rural areas faces many challenges, due both to a lack of infrastructure and to weaknesses in the pedagogical and educational training of teachers.
Since 2006, IECD and the Malagasy association PROMES have been combating school failure among rural youth in the Fianarantsoa region by supporting the most deserving students from secondary school through to higher education. In the 2023–2024 academic year, 480 young people were directly supported through the CERES programme (Educational and School Reinforcement Centres), achieving excellent results: in 2024, 90% passed the lower secondary certificate (compared with 66% on average in districts where CERES operates) and 90% passed the Baccalauréat (compared with 44% in the Fianarantsoa province). This success is partly due to the programme’s holistic approach, which considers the student’s personal development as well as their environment.
Furthermore, the CERES Programme complements its support for young people with training provided to their families and to teachers in partner secondary schools.
MOST JUNIOR SCHOOLS IN THE BUSH DO NOT HAVE CERTIFIED TEACHERS
In Madagascar, most teachers in junior schools in the bush do not have special training. In order to remedy this situation, the Madagascan Education Ministry called upon the IECD’s know-how in educational engineering to create the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course in 2014. In 2017, three academic years benefited from the FIP. Among the 36 students trained, more than 90% were certified by the National Institute for Vocational Training.
THE RESULTS IN 2024:
