Teaching Against the Odds: SEED Madagascar Strengthens Educators in Rural Madagascar

The Importance of Strengthening Teachers

When people think about improving education, they often imagine new classrooms, textbooks or technology. These resources are important, but lasting change begins with something much more human: the teacher.

Teachers shape how students understand the world, how they learn, and how they grow.

Their influence extends far beyond the classroom. In many places, this central role of teachers is supported by structured training and ongoing professional development and access to adequate resources.

In rural Madagascar, however, the reality is very different. Teachers often enter classrooms with limited formal training, few resources, and little access to professional support (Kodjovi & Eklou, 2025). Despite this, they continue to teach every day, driven by commitment to their communities and to children’s futures.

Supporting these teachers is at the heart of Project Masoandro, from SEED Madagascar. Building on the success of the Light Library initiative, a community-managed solar programme that provides affordable rented solar lamps and batteries for households in rural areas, SEED Madagascar is working alongside the Ministry of Education to strengthen teaching skills and confidence in the classroom. SEED aims to improve learning for more than 1,700 children across five primary schools in the Anosy region.

Teaching in Rural Madagascar

Madagascar’s education system faces significant challenges. According to UNDP (2025), the country ranks 183rd out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index and continues to experience shortages of trained teachers, learning materials and educational investment, particularly in rural regions like Anosy.

Lack of Teacher Training

One of the most pressing issues is teacher training. As a member of SEED’s Schools team explained:

“Around 90% of teachers have not completed formal teacher training, yet they are responsible for educating the next generation.”

UNICEF (2024) reports that across the country, only around 17% of teachers hold a recognised teaching diploma, and in some districts of Anosy this falls below 3%.

Impact of Recruiting Teachers through Parents’ Associations

To keep schools running, many teachers are recruited locally through parents’ associations, known as FRAM. While this allows schools to function, it also means many teachers begin work without formal pedagogical training or consistent professional support.

Teacher salaries in these contexts are often low and unstable, which can mean teachers take on additional work alongside teaching to meet their basic needs. This limits time available for lesson preparation and professional development, and can sometimes mean that teachers are unable to attend school at all.

Language Barriers

Language barriers add another layer of complexity. Although French is the language of the national curriculum, only around 20% of the population speaks it fluently. Teachers and students use Malagasy as their first language. This means teachers often translate lessons in real time, which can slow learning and make lesson delivery more demanding.

Lack of Professional Support

Professional support for teachers is also limited. Pedagogical advisors, known as CONSPEDs (Conseillers Pédagogiques), are responsible for coaching teachers and supporting classroom practice. However, in rural areas such as Anosy, their ability to visit schools regularly is restricted by distance, funding, and limited infrastructure.

Building on Strong Foundations

Solar-powered Light Libraries

Project Masoandro, meaning “sun” in Malagasy, originally focused on enabling children to study safely at home after dark. Working with Jiro-Ve, a Malagasy social enterprise and technical partner within the Solar United consortium, SEED has established solar Light Libraries at 10 schools in Anosy. These allow families to rent rechargeable lights, reducing reliance on kerosene lamps and supporting evening study.

Digital Learning without Internet Access

Following the success of Light Libraries, the project has expanded through a Digital Learning component in three schools. Offline tablets, projectors, and speakers now support lesson preparation and classroom teaching without requiring internet access.

Learning Alongside Teachers

Building on these foundations, the next phase of the project places stronger emphasis on teachers themselves, focussing on capacity sharing and training. This next phase is designed to support 37 teachers across five primary schools in the communities of Emagnevy, Esohihy, Tsagnoriha, Beraketa, and Manambaro.

Teacher Training

Training sessions will be delivered in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and led by specialist pedagogical advisors. SEED Madagascar supports coordination, ensuring training is practical, relevant, and aligned with classroom realities.

Sessions focus on strengthening understanding of the national curriculum, improving lesson planning, and building confidence in teaching French. Workshops also explore classroom management and ways to adapt lessons for different learning levels.

As Flavine, Senior Community Liaison Officer for SEED’s Project Masoandro, explains:

“Seeing teachers become more confident in using digital tools and students make progress in their learning is my greatest motivation.”

Professional Development for Teachers

Professional development continues beyond training. In the proposed model, teachers also receive classroom-based mentoring from CONSPEDs, who observe lessons, provide feedback, and support ongoing improvement. SEED facilitates this process through monitoring visits and follow-up, helping ensure that learning is sustained over time.

Protecting Children

Protecting children is another key part of the programme. Violence against children, including corporal punishment and gender-based violence, remains a reality in Madagascar, where more than 50% of young people report experiencing violence in schools.

In response, this work is included in training sessions with teachers and school leaders, focusing on what safe and appropriate behaviour looks like in the classroom and reinforcing the importance of keeping children safe from harm. These sessions will strengthen teacher awareness and encourage safer, more respectful and more inclusive classroom environments.

Why This Matters Beyond the Classroom

While this project aims to directly support 37 teachers, its impact extends much further.

Impacting over 1,700 Students

These teachers collectively reach over 1,700 students across five schools.
When teachers receive training and ongoing support, they are better able to plan lessons, communicate clearly, and create structured, engaging learning environments. This improves students’ ability to learn foundational skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Improving Long-Term Opportunities

The effects extend beyond individual lessons. Improved teaching strengthens school attendance, increases student confidence, and supports longer-term educational progress. Over time, this contributes to stronger pathways into secondary education and better opportunities for young people in rural communities.

Investing in Communities’ Future

By investing in teachers, we are investing in the future of entire communities. Stronger classrooms lay the foundations for a new generation of confident learners, skilled professionals, and community leaders who can shape the future of their own communities.

Looking Ahead

Improving education is not only about providing resources like books or technology. These tools matter, but they are most effective when teachers have the training, confidence, and support to use them well.

Across rural Madagascar, teachers continue to work under challenging conditions. Project Masoandro aims to support them by strengthening skills, building confidence, and improving classroom practice through sustained collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

How to Support Project Masoandro

To support teacher training and help improve learning opportunities for children in rural Madagascar, you can contribute to SEED Madagascar’s Project Masoandro at https://madagascar.enthuse.com/cf/teacher-capacity-strengthening.

Donate to Support Project Masoandro

This project is over 50% funded, SEED needs to raise about 9,000 pounds to meet budget needs. Donate on Enthuse to help SEED build the capacity of teachers in rural Madagascar!

Learn about SEED Madagascar

SEED Madagascar (Sustainable Environment, Education & Development in Madagascar) is an award-winning British charity working in southeast Madagascar.