Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to search for explanations to why the education system during Madagascar’s first Republic was regarded as a failure. A critical analysis of a lack of adaptation and the continuing relations with the former colonial power is essential in this regard.

Paper long abstract:

The right to education constituted a key principle in the Malagasy constitution at independence in 1960. In 1962, primary education was restructured into two cycles. The first cycle was 4 years (CP and CE) and the second was 2 years (CM). The education policy of the newly established Republic after French colonisation for over 60 years was ambitious. Within a period of 10 years, the aim was to increase the enrolment rate of school-aged children for the first cycle from 44% to 78% (Republique Malgache. Ministère de l’éducation nationale 1964). In 1968, the Malagasy student organisation Fédération des associations d`étudiants de Madagascar (FAEM) had their 4th national seminar and the subject was Malgachisation and democratisation of education. Teachers, professors, students and leaders of youth movements participated in the seminar. According to its report, there was a need for malgachisation of the education system to adapt to the economic situation, use the Malagasy language and favour a collective spirit. If the main criterion of selection in Malagasy schools continued to be mastering the French language, only privileged children gained access whereas poor children only became failures of a system hindering their aspirations. The Malagasy education system was described a failure. Based on this report, other archival materials and secondary sources, this paper aims to search for explanations to why the education system during Madagascar’s first Republic was regarded a failure. A critical analysis of the lack of adaptation and continuing relations with the former colonial power is essential in this regard.