Madagascar: Expanding Girls' Horizons through Education

The challenges facing women in Madagascar are formidable. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and Malagasy women suffer disproportionately from this poverty. The education of girls is not valued and drop-out rates are very high. Overall, female literacy rates, estimated at only 43% percent in 1993, have fallen precipitously recently. Almost 29% of girls receive no instruction whatsoever. A fourth of pregnant women are malnourished and the maternal mortality rate is among the highest in the world.

These girls are all able to attend school and meet professional women role models in a country where few exist thanks to the Ambassador's Scholarship program in Madagascar.

For more than 2480 Malagasy girls since 2000, this life is beginning to change. The Ambassador's Girls Scholarship, created under the USAID-funded Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI), is making education for girls in Madagascar possible, and is increasing their sense of self-worth as students and citizens.

The Ambassador's Girls Scholarship program, administered by Winrock International, helps the poorest of the poor-young girls in tattered clothes willing to walk miles for the privilege of attending school. They borrow shoes to wear when they meet their mentors. Making education possible for these Malagasy girls is important not only for them individually, but also for the future of Madagascar.

Implemented in Madagascar by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., the Scholarship program, which services over 1000 girls a year, provides each student from $75 to $450 per year to attend a primary, secondary, or technical school in the country. A committee of parents and teachers select girls to receive the scholarships based on financial need, good grades, character, attendance, intention to continue education, and potential for future achievement. Although scholarships are awarded principally to primary and secondary school girls, they have also been awarded to handicapped students and to illiterate girls in poorly paid jobs (such as garment workers). During 2001-2002, the program aimed to support girls who are at the highest risk of leaving school; those who are adolescents, homeless, orphaned or disabled or whose families are in most severe economic distress.

Wanda Nesbitt, U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar, greets Ambassador's Scholarship recipients at a Career Day festival.

As part of the program, JSI recruits and trains professional women to serve as mentors for scholarship recipients. Mentors are taught about subjects including health, nutrition, adolescent reproductive health (including preventing unwanted pregnancies and AIDS), environmental issues, and the options that are open to girls who wish to continue their education (such as technical or trade education, attending university or professional school). The goal of the mentoring program is to create a solid relationship between a young girl and a successful woman in the community, so that the mentor can serve as a role model, provide support and advice and, especially for disadvantaged girls, show a different model for future community participation.

To create interest in the program and support participants, EDDI holds annual half-day career day festivals to enable girls to learn about different professions and reward the girls and their parents. Scholarship recipients and their parents or guardians travel long distances by foot to meet with educators, Malagasy women mentors, program staff and local district officials to celebrate the awarding of the scholarships. Girls are given colorful t-shirts promoting the program and, most importantly, meet their EDDI mentors, who are successful local women. These female role models include teachers, doctors, politicians, hairdressers, and heads of factories. Each woman sets up a booth in which she displays tools and products of her career. These women leaders express great passion for encouraging and guiding the students in all areas, but especially for teaching them how to pursue their career goals.

Thus far, the Ambassador's Girls Scholarship program is demonstrating tremendous results. Girls and young women who have received scholarships have performed well above the national average on standardized tests administered throughout Madagascar in 2001. Nationwide, only 28% of students pass the high school final exam which determines whether they can attend university. However, of the Ambassador's Girls Scholarship recipients who took the test 55% passed. Girls who took the junior high and high school entrance exams have had even higher passing percentages-59% and 82% respectively. These are girls of promise who are reaching well beyond the normal role women play in their society to attain their goals.

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