Schooling support 2020-2021

The NGO Jeunes Actifs pour le Développement (JADE) has run a project to support the schooling of disadvantaged children in the former province of Toamasina, Madagascar, since 2009, with the support of private German donors. This report summarizes the results achieved, the expected results and the critiques for improving future projects. School kits were distributed to scholarship children from three public schools in the Toamasina region, whose parents face financial difficulties. The project enabled 60 children, mostly girls, to be schooled in 2020, with a success rate of 63%, a clear improvement over the previous year.

In detail, ONG JADE distributed school scholarships to the 15 pupils of EPP Ambodisaina, a public school located in the suburban area of Toamasina II. The beneficiary pupils' parents face financial difficulties, with average monthly incomes of 135,000 Ariary (around €34). School kits were distributed to the 15 scholarship pupils of EPP Fanara, whose parents are mainly farmers or work in other small trades. The organization also distributed school supplies to the 15 scholarship pupils of EPP Ambodimanga II - Fénérive Est, whose parents are mainly small-scale farmers with an average monthly income of 43,000 Ariary (around €11). In the fokontany of Ambodikinina, where monthly household income is estimated at around 20,000 Ariary (around €5), the schooling rate is estimated at only 45%. EPP Andranokôbaka, which serves about 116 children, was visited by ONG JADE members to distribute school supplies and pay the FRAM fees for the 15 scholarship pupils of EPP Andranokobaka. Among the parents of our scholarship pupils, mostly farmers, all state that their child is motivated and got good grades, although eleven out of fifteen repeated a grade last year.

The 2020 schooling project enabled 60 children, mostly girls, to be schooled, with a success rate of 63%. The organization stressed that all the children benefiting from the project are in difficulty, coming from families with financial hardship, but they are motivated and get good grades. However, some critiques were raised to improve future projects, notably the need to take into account the additional difficulties linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and to broaden the range of beneficiaries to include other vulnerable groups.