This 4th grader and his friends proudly show their new schoolbags, part of a school kit their received last year thanks to the support of the GPE-funded program in Madagascar.
They attend Antongombato primary school in Analavory, a village in the region of Itasy in central Madagascar.
The school was rebuilt in 2015 through the GPE-funded Projet d’appui d’urgence à l’éducation pour tous, in English the Emergency support project for education for all.
A cyclone three years ago had completely destroyed it, which had left the children in this remote village without any access to education.
Four new classrooms have been built and equipped, and textbooks distributed for students in grades 1 to 5.
The US$85.4 million GPE grant is focused on:
- increasing access to primary education by reducing the costs of schooling for families through subsidies for teacher salaries and children’s school kits,
- enhancing the quality of teaching and improving the learning environment in targeted areas, like here in Itasy region. This is done through training of teachers and school directors, providing grants to schools in vulnerable regions, rebuilding and rehabilitating schools and providing school meals.
- strengthening the foundation of the primary education system through enhancing stakeholders’ capacity, and improving community participation and social accountability.
The Ministry of National Education manages the project in partnership with the World Bank as the grant agent and UNICEF as the coordinating agency.