Education and training in Madagascar : towards a policy agenda for economic growth and poverty reduction - a summary

AFR I CA RE G I ON H U MAN DE VE LO PM E NT WORKiNG PAPER SERIES iE WSRit M Educdtion dnd Trdining in Mdddgdscdr ToWdrdS d Policy Agendd for Economic Growth dnd Poverty Reduction A SUMMARY 22984 September 2001 4 ';e' I . 0 ' - 74''' 1 ' > i <-  Other Titles in This Series Dynamic Risk Management and the Poor-Developing a Social Protection Strategy for Africa Engaging with Adults-The Case for Increased Support to Adult Basic Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Inclure les adultes - Pour un appui a l'6ducation de base des adultes en Afrique subsaharienne Enhancing Human Development in the HIPC/PRSP Context-Progress in the Africa Region during 2000 Early Childhood Development in Africa--Can We Do More for Less? A Look at the Impact and Implications of Preschools in Cape Verde and Guinea Le d6veloppement de la petite enfance en Afrique - Peut-on faire plus avec moins? Impact et implications des centres pr6scolaires au Cap-Vert et en Guin6e AIDS, Poverty Reduction and Debt Relief-A Toolkit for Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS Programs into Development Instruments Systemic Shocks and Social Protection--Role and Effectiveness of Public Works Programs Social Protection of Africa's Orphans and Vulnerable Children-Issues and Good Practice Program Options Can Africa Reach the International Targets for Human Development? An Assessment of Progress towards the Targets of the 1998 Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II)  Africa Region Human Development Working Paper Series Education and Training in Madagascar Towards a Policy Agenda for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction A Summary of the Key Challenges Africa Region The World Bank  ii AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES ( September 2001 Human Development Sector Africa Region The World Bank The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the World Bank or any of its affiliated organizations. Cover photo by Girinde Beeharry. Cover design by Tomoko Hirata. The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. Telephone: 202 477 1234 Facsimile: 202 477 6391 Internet: www.worldbank.org E-mail: afrhdseries@worldbank.org  EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MADAGASCAR Contents Foreword v Acknowledgements vii I Introduction 1 2 A Medium-Term Strategy for Educational Development 3 Efficiency concerns 3 Equity concerns 5 3 Primary Education 6 Low survival rates to the end of the primary cycle 6 Large disparities in survival patterns across population groups 7 High rates of grade repetition 7 Policies to improve the pattern of studentflow 8 Weak link between finding and student learniing 10 4 Secondary Education 11 Balance between the lower and upper secondariy cycles 11 Economies of scale in service delivery and cost mnanagement in small schools 12 5 Vocational and technical education and training 14 Need for training 14 Weak demand for public sector training and the system's mediocre efficiency 14 An overlyfragmented map of training institutions 15 A top-heavy and hence costly structurefor system management 16  iV AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVE1LOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES 6 Higher Education 17 The system's lagging internal and external efficiency 17 An overlyfragmented and under-specialized university rmap 18 Weak management of overtime teaching and non-teaching personnel 19 7 Improving Management of the Education System 21 8 Mobilizing an Effective Response to the Challenges 22 Tables Table 1. Output of graduates and the annual flow of new Jobs in the labor market, circa 1999 4 Table 2. Entry and survival rates in primary education, 1997 7 Table 3. Incomplete schools, multigrade teaching, and time use in public and private schools, 1998 9 Table 4. Time use of teachers in secondary schools, 1998 13 Table 5. Students in public vocational and technical education, 1998-99 15 Table 6. Supply of characteristics of public vocational and technical education, 1999 15 Table 7. Enrollments in higher education, 1998-99 17 Table 8. Characteristics of the universityfaculty sector, 1998-99 18 Table 9. Volume of overtime teaching, 1997-98 19 Table 10. Administrative and technical support staff (PATs), 1998 20 Table 11. Summary of the key challenges facing Madagascar's education sector and strategies for policymakers 23 Figures Figure 1. Profile of schooling in primary and secondary education, 1998 6 Figure 2. Dropout rates, repetition rates, and GNP per Capita, 1993 7 Figure 3. Relation between number of publicly paid teachers and number of pupils in public primary schools, 1998 8 Figure 4. Spending per pupil and test scores among second graders in public primary schools, 1998 10 Figure 3. Unit costs in public lower secondary schools by size of enrollments 12 Figure 6. Educational qualification of the workforce, 1999 14 Figure 7. Admiinistrative expenses as a share of total current spending, 1998 16  EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MADAGASCAR V Foreword W orld Bank support for educational devel- ticularly as they relate to poverty and the quality of IV opment in Madagascar dates back to at life enjoyed by the population. There is also agree- least 1989 when the first Bank-financed ment that because poverty reduction strategies education project was approved. Two more educa- cannot succeed without country ownership, it is tion projects followed in subsequent years (one of appropriate for each country to take responsibility which is still under implementation as of this writ- for preparing its own PRSP, relying on a process of ing), providing continuity in the Bank's engage- participatory consultation with civil society to ment in policy development and implementation in develop a shared vision on the way forward. the sector. In addition to project financing, World These two features in the new dynamic of devel- Bank assistance also takes the form of analytical opment aid motivate the need to deepen our under- activities and advice. This report is an example of standing of the current status of educational such assistance.' Like project financing, the ultimate development and the obstacles that stand in the objective is to help the country expand educational way of progress, both to provide a factual basis for opportunities, particularly at the lower levels of the policy dialogue, as well as to identify specific out- system, as well as improve quality throughout the come goals around which to build mutual account- system. Unlike project financing, however, the focus abilities for the use of national and donor resources. is on diagnosing major constraints on educational This report is an attempt by the World Bank to development so as to support the search for appro- respond to this need. While it does not address the priate policy responses to those constraints, rather full range of issues in the sector, its focus on cost than on a detailed specification of project inputs and financing addresses some of the key concerns and their design, implementation plans, and so on. of policy makers and others engaged in the Such analytical work and advice is becoming HIPC/PRSP process. increasingly relevant in the context of debt relief I am particularly pleased to note that the prepa- under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) ration of the report has involved substantial and Initiative, and the related preparation of Poverty close collaboration between the World Bank team Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). These develop- and its Malagasy counterparts. At the outset, a ments reflect a growing recognition among donors, national team comprising members from the three including the World Bank, that while external education ministries as well as other government financing through projects is important for sector agencies was constituted, and interactions between development, it is critical to link the aggregate flow this team and the Bank team was maintained of resources, both external and domestic, more through all stages of the work, from defining its closely to the achievement of tangible results, par- scope, to data collection and analysis, report writing  Vi AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES and dissemination, and policy dialogue. As the long effort to shape an effective response to the challenge list of names in the acknowledgements attests, of poverty reduction. others also participated in various ways, particu- larly representatives of the donor community, Birger Fredriksen NGOs and members of civil society. The extensive Director collaboration is critical not only for preparing the Human Development, Africa Region report, but also for strengthening country owner- The World Bank ship of the analytical results as well as their impli- cations for policy development. Wide dissemination and discussion of the diag- 1 This publication is a self-contained summiary of a m,ich nostic results are a first step in the process of policy larger report which is published tinder theseparate crvaNr in the World Bank's Country Study Series. The latter nwax he development. It is my sincere hope that the publica- ordered from the World Bank Bookstore at the followving x\ e L1- tion of this summary of the main findings in an site: www.worldbank.org/infoshop/ easily accessible format would make a small but nonetheless tangible contribution to the country's  EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MADAGASCAR Vii Acknowledgements T his report is a summary of a study that is the Daniel Robijaona, Emmanuel Rakotovao, and T product of close collaboration between the Ernest Randriamanampisoa, with overall World Bank and the Government of Mada- management support from Hyacinthe Ralan- gascar. The Bank team was led by Jee-Peng Tan tonirina (METFP); (AFTHD), with Gerard Lassibille (Institut de Recherche sur l'Economie de 1'Education, France) as Ying Vah Zafilahy, Chantal Rahalison, and the main team member; Lucia Navarro (Universidad Adolphe Randriantsoa, with overall manage- de Malaga, Spain), Julia Lane (American University, ment support from Lucien Rabenantoandro USA) and Dandan Chen (YPP) as ad-hoc members Rakotomanantsoa and help with data from providing specific inputs; Alain Mingat (AFTH2) as Elisabeth Dama, Lala Rambeloson, and Daniel overall advisor; and Zafiris Tzannatos (MNSHD), Razafimandimby (MinESup); Keith Hinchcliffe (SASED), and Jaap Bregman (AFTH4) as peer reviewers. The study benefited Fleurette Nirinaharindrasana (MBDPA); Heri- from overall management support from Arvil Van zo Ralambomahay (PAIGEP/CTRSP/STA); Adams, Hafez Ghanem, and Michael Sarris. and Harivelo Rajemison and Eric Ramilison The Malagasy technical working group consisted (INSTAT/MADIO). of senior policy and technical staff from the three education ministries, as well as representatives Members of the technical working group wrote from other parts of government, as follows: background papers (see Govt. of Madagascar 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, Nirinaharindrasana 2000; Rajemison Albert Rafalimanana, Dominique Fofa, and 2000; Ralambomahay 2000; Ramilision 2000), as Joseph Svlvain, with overall management well as provided critical help in assembling the support from Andre Juckely Boto, and help databases used for the anlysis presented in the with data compilation from Rabiary Andria- report. herisaina, Roger Andrianaivoson, Georges The work has benefited from inputs of various Gniarck, Jean-Claude Landry, Mariamo, kinds from others as well, including N. Andri- Roland Rabeson, Honore Rajerison, Jose Rako- anaivo, C. Andrianalimanana, F Chenakamkul, R. tonaivojaoniriana, Jean Pierre Rakotovao, Kalidindi, C. Kostopoulos, E. Murray, A. Jacqueline Ralisiarisoa, and Jules Razafi- Onivololona, S. Paternostro, T. Rabenandrasana, E. mandimby (MinESEB); Rabeson, J. Rabetokotany, V. Rahelimanantsoa, M.  Viii AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Ranaivoarivelo, A. Ranarisoa, D. Randriamanamp- Action); Y. Polard (Association Frangcaise des isoa, D. Ramiandrisoa, R. Raoilison, J. Razafind- Volontaires du Progres); J. Randrianandrasana ravonona, S. Sosale, A. Velompanahy, D. Viens and (UNESCO); and L. Ramanarivo (UNDP). J. Zalduendo. The report has been financed by the World Bank Interactions with the following representatives of with contributions from the governments of the donor community and NGOs have also been Madagascar, France and Norway. The full report is helpful: 0. Akpaka (UNICEF); P. G. Le Boul and G. available by request from the World Bank's coun- Thuaudet (Cooperation Fran(aise); B. Coquelin try office in Antananarivo or by email to (UNFPA); V. Hubert (EU); P. Lambiliotte (Aide et mranaivoarivelol@worldbank.org.  Education and Training in Madagascar Towards a Policy Agenda for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction A Summary of the Key Challenges Africa Region Human Development Working Paper Series   1 Introduction T he prospects for educational development significant contribution to the government's T are excellent in Madagascar today in light of poverty reduction agenda. For policymakers and the increasingly favorable policy environ- managers in the sector, a key challenge is to identify ment for the sector. During the first half of the sound directions for sector development in the 1990s, public spending on education relative to the medium and long term and to align spending pri- gross domestic product (GDP) declined more than orities and intra-sectoral policies accordingly. What, 40 percent, coinciding with a fivefold rise in the then, are the strategic options in this regard? country's interest payment on the external debt. As Beyond fixing broad sectoral directions, policymak- the debt service burden began to ease after 1995, ers also face the more immediate task of organizing public spending on education began to recover, and structuring the system to improve service reaching the same level of spending in 2000 as at the delivery. What obstacles stand in the way of better start of the 1990s, around 3.0 percent of GDP. In the performance, particularly in terms of educational context of the government's strategy for poverty access and outcomes among the poorest segments reduction, the sector's claim on public spending is of the population? How can the government mount expected to grow bigger still, rising to a projected an effective policy response to overcome these con- 4.1 percent of GDP in 2003. At the same time, fol- straints? lowing the debt reduction agreement recently con- This note contributes to the national dialogue on cluded with the International Monetary Fund and these questions. It summarizes the main findings of the World Bank under the Highly Indebted Poor an education sector study recently completed by the Countries (HIPC) Initiative, an estimated savings of World Bank in collaboration with the govemment $50 million in interest payments is expected to of Madagascar and other partners. The results per- materialize annually for at least the next 10 years. tain only to the formal education system and should About 25 percent of the savings are being ear- be viewed as a diagnosis of the main problems that marked for spending on education, further boosting hamper the system's performance rather than as an public spending on education to a projected 4.3 per- evaluation of its achievements. Further, to the cent of GDP in 2003, a level comparable to the aver- extent that the analysis relies on data from the late age among low-income countries benefiting from 1990s, the findings do not take full account of the debt reduction under the HIPC Initiative. impact of the latest reforms implemented as part of Given the large investment of resources PNAE2, the government's education sector devel- involved, the education sector is expected to make a opment plan launched in 1997. Nonetheless, it is 1  2 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES clear that substantial scope remains for improve- along an efficient and equitable path, thereby con- ment throughout the system. Policymakers are in tributing to the country's medium-term objective of the enviable position of having choices that can achieving rapid economic growth and sustained truly propel the education system's expansion poverty reduction.  2 A Medium-Term Strategy for Educational Development A n overall medium-term strategy for the tural and informal sector employing the vast major- A sector can be articulated by considering ity of the workforce and a tiny modern sector. broad efficiency and equity goals. Efficiency Although this dualistic structure is likely to persist goals refer to the priorities given to education sub- for some time, the economy's growth path probably sectors and their consistency with the country's cur- will conform to the following common pattern: (a) a rent and projected economic conditions; equity gradual expansion of the modem sector, as reflected goals refer to disparities in the access to schooling in its share of GDP and employment and (b) rising across population groups as well as in the distribu- labor productivity in the traditional sector, which tion of public spending among them. The findings then frees up labor for work in the modern sector. of the education sector study suggest that efficiency Investments in human capital play an important as well as equity goals in education would be role in responding to and facilitating the process of served by adopting a medium-term strategy that economic transformation, addressing the need for seeks to: skills in both the modem as well as traditional sectors: * universalize basic education of reasonable quality, while closely linking expansion of * For the modern sector, investments in technical other levels and types of education and train- and vocational education and in postsec- ing to labor market demand. ondary education are essential but must be calibrated to the labor market's absorptive This strategy accords well with the government's capacity. International experience shows vision for poverty reduction, which relies on two beyond doubt that the growth and develop- broad pillars: (a) maximizing overall economic ment of the modem economy depend prima- growth and (b) ensuring inclusion of the poor in the rily on sound macroeconomic policies. Thus process by enlarging their capacity both to con- even though a shortage of educated labor, tribute to growth and to take advantage of the whether in quantity or in quality, can often opportunities to escape from poverty that arise as constrain economic growth, a surplus almost the economy expands. certainly will not accelerate it. Instead, it will create unemployment and underemployment Efficiency concerns among the educated, resulting in wasted public resources and producing frustration Madagascar has the dualistic economy typical of among those affected. Allowing labor market most low-income countries: a dominant agricul- signals to drive the expansion of vocational 3  4 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES and technical education and post-basic levels Madagascar's current situation is highly unbal- of education would minimize these adverse anced, as table 1 suggests. The education systemi outcomes. produces far too manv graduates at the hiighost levels: for example, 3,700 postsecondarv graduates For agricultutre and the iniformal sector, where the exit the system annually to compete for the 2,50() economic activities are highly diverse, the new jobs available each year requiring this level of available evidence suggests that basic educa- education. At the same time, too few graduates are tion is the most effective form of human capi- produced at the lower levels of the system: about tal investment. It improves the productivity of two-thirds of each cohort of young people einter theic farmers and other workers in the traditional workforce with either no schooling or with less thlan economy, while furthering broader social the full five years of primary schooling. objectives, including better health and greater A strategy for developing the education sector social equity. For countries at Madagascar's must take into account the curreint imbalance and current level of economic development, basic prioritize in favor of basic education. To ensure that education yields far and away the highest eco- post-basic education develops in tandem with the nomic and social returns across levels and labor market's absorptive capacity, it would be types of education. appropriate to create and implement selection Table I Output of graduates and their absorption on the labor market, circa 1999 Output from the education system Annual flow of new jobs Number in each Educational attainmenta cohort ('000) Sectoritype of employment Number of jobs ('000) | No schooling 57 z 195 Agriculture ? 0) .S Incomplete primary 138 -Q 281.5 0 Complete with CEPE 24 .E Complete with CEPE 31 Informal sector ? 89 Li Incomplete lower sec. 17 CD a Complete without BEPC 17 Small firms 0 Complete with BEPC 2.5 Large firms & the civil service: .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~~~ Lower level jobs 1 8 6 Incomplete upper sec. 2.5 26 5 M Baccalaur&atb 7.3 Large firms & the civil service: -------- -------------------------- 11 Higher level jobs 6.5 - 6.0 ) 8.5 = High education 3.7-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Top-level jobs 2.0 - 2.5 Cohort size 300 300 a. The CEPE, BEPC and Baccalaureat refer respectively to the quaJificatiori obtained after passing the national examinations at the end of primary, lower secondary and upper secr2rdary cycles. b. Inciudes general and technical Baccalaurat, as well as DENG holders. Tie atter degree s obta ned after a two-year course at the univers ty level, but are included here fto' ach Of o'- mation on the number produced each year at this level of qualification.  EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MADAGASCAR 5 mechanisms that regulate student flow through the percent in any birth cohort claim an estimated 64 system, particularly between cycles of schooling. percent of the public spending on education accu- Such mechanisms would improve the current situa- mulated by the cohort as it passes through the tion, where selection at all levels occurs by default, system. Again, the result is much more inequitable as massive numbers of students drop out before in Madagascar than elsewhere in the world. For completing their cycle of schooling. low-income countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, the corresponding share is, on aver- Equity concerns age, less than half as high. Simulations show that the picture in Madagascar could be improved dra- The performance of the education system with matically by improving basic education, particu- regard to equity also leaves much to be desired. The larly survival rates at the primary level. share of public spending on education benefiting To summarize, the results of the education sector children from the richest 20 percent of Malagasy study strongly suggest that a sector development households is five times the share benefiting chil- strategy that extends basic education of adequate dren from the poorest 20 percent. Among 12 other quality to all children, while calibrating the expan- developing countries for which similar data are sion of the other levels to the rhythm of economic available, only Guinea has a higher ratio, and activity and trends in the demand for qualified among the remaining countries, the corresponding labor, would be both efficient and equitable. In the ratio ranges between 1.2 and 2.8. From a longitudi- remaining sections, this paper summarizes what nal perspective, the current structure of the educa- such a strategy might imply for policy challenges in tion system is such that the best-educated 10 each of the educational subsectors.  3 Primary Education A t the 2000 Dakar Education For All Forum, Low survival rates to the end of the basic education was defined as including primary cycle the primary cycle as well as the first cycle of secondary schooling. In Madagascar's current con- Figure 1 illustrates the problem. Although the text, the primary cycle continues to warrant top share of children who enter first grade is priority, not least because the system's performance respectably high at 81 percent, only 33 percent of at this level remains very weak. Survival rates are the entrants reach the end of the cycle, implying low, particularly among children from poor fami- that only 27 percent of the children in each birth lies, while grade repetition occurs much too fre- cohort attain the full five years of primary school- quently, and student learning remains highly ing. This poor outcome is clearly undesirable, given inadequate. Many of these problems reflect weak that children generally require at least four years of management of the allocation of teachers across schooling of reasonable quality to become perma- schools, poor use of time, and ineffective oversight nently literate and numerate as adults, skills that of the pedagogical process in schools and class- will enhance their economic productivity as well as rooms. Based on the results of the sector study, the their chances of escaping from poverty. key policy challenges in primary education appear to be the following: Figure 1 Profile of schooling in primary and secondary * Improve survival rates to the end of the pri- education, 1998 mary cycle and reduce grade repetition 100 s Rationalize teacher allocation across schools 80 and improve the efficiency of time use by teachers 60 - ' 40 * Enhance student learning by ensuring ade- 3 quate provision of teaching materials, but 20 especially by improving management of the pedagogical process in schools and class- 0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 rooms. Grade 6  EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MADAGASCAR 7 Large disparities in survival patterns across the reason for this outcome: while nearly all chil- population groups dren from the richest families enter grade one, only two-thirds of children from the bottom 40 percent To Madagascar's credit, differences in schooling do so. An even more important reason is the dis- outcomes between boys and girls are limited, unlike parity in survival rates: 70 percent of children from the situation in many low-income countries, and the richest families compared with only 9 percent of disparities across provinces are not as large as those children from the bottom 40 percent. These results observed elsewhere. Even so, the lagging perform- suggest that, for the country's poverty reduction ance in two of the provinces is noteworthy: in strategy to be meaningful, substantial efforts will Toliara, the rate of entry to grade one is only 58 per- have to be directed at children from poor families, cent, while in Toliara and Fianarantsoa the survival especially in rural areas. rate to the last grade in the primary cycle is only 22 and 23 percent, respectively (table 2). As a result, High rates of grade repetition only 13 and 17 percent, respectively, of each cohort of children in these two provinces attain the full In addition to the problem of low survival rates, cycle of primary schooling. the Malagasy education system also suffers from In Madagascar, the most striking disparities are one of the highest rates of grade repetition in the between urban and rural areas and across income world, averaging about 31 percent for the system as groups. Whereas 60 percent of urban children a whole. Such a high rate is wasteful not only achieve a complete primary education, the corre- because repeaters take longer to complete their sponding share is only 12 percent among rural chil- studies and therefore cost more to educate but also dren. The gap by income group is even wider, with because the available research evidence suggests 70 percent of children from the richest 20 percent offain- that grade repetition hardly improves student ilies attaining a complete primary education compared learning and tends to encourage dropping out. The with only 6 percent of children frorm the poorest 40 per- combination of low survival and high repetition cent offamilies. Differences in entry rates are part of rates makes the Malagasy system one of the least efficient in the world, with an index of student flow efficiency that is less than one-third as high as that Table 2 in a system with no grade repetition and no drop- Entry and survival rates in primary education, ping out (figure 2). 1997 (percent) Entry rate Survival Grade five Figure 2 to grade rate to enrollment Dropout rates, repetition rates, and GNP per one grade five rate capita, 1993 Madagascar 81 33 27 , o Zb By province 0.9 -l . Antananarivo 93 48 44 Antsiranana 86 43 37 Q0.8 J- Indi S.en Ah Fianarantsoa 77 22 17 0T.- N Sglr E C P PNG pe I.Y Mahajanga 74 34 25 0.7 E eh. 3-di Hd.o- T-- Toamasina 86 31 27 06 Nala CEl Toliara 58 23 13 Jg.a' a Ng_nda '~0.5 MaHC AR U-., By locality Mozmbique Urban 99 61 60 0.4 MadaaSca Do-n-cn Rural 75 16 12 0.3 By household income 300 500 1,000 2,000 4,000 10,000 Richest 20 percent 99 70 70 Poorest 40 percent 66 9 6 Per capita GNP in 1993 (current purchasing power parity Poorest________________40 _______percent_______________66_______9_____6_ dollars, log scale)  8 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Policies to improve the pattern of student flow A more rational deployment of teachers across schools In Madagascar, policies to improve student flow would need to focus simultaneously on improving Teachers represent the bulk of the resources that survival rates and lowering the incidence of grade schools, particularly at the lower levels, receive for repetition, using interventions that address con- organizing the delivery of educational services. The straints on the supply of services as well as the distribution of teachers across schools therefore is a demand for them. Supply-side constraints are more key management issue that deserves close atten- feasible to change, particularly in the short run, but tion. In a well-managed system, one would expect some options also exist for easing demand-side con- that schools enrolling more pupils would receive straints. The government's current efforts to more teachers; similarly, one would expect that encourage greater participation by parents and schools of comparable size would have more or less other community members in school activities the same number of teachers. through the contrat programme arrangement are a In Madagascar, however, the current pattern of step in the right direction. Allowing greater flexibil- teacher allocation across schools departs substan- ity for local authorities to adapt the school calendar tially from this objective standard, even if, on aver- and daily schedule to local conditions would, by age, a positive relation exists between the number minimizing the opportunity cost of schooling, of pupils and the number of teachers (see figure 3, further lower the demand-side constraints on where each circle represents a school). For example, schooling. among schools with 150 pupils, the number of With regard to obstacles on the supply side, the teachers could range as widely as between one and sector study estimates that about 19 percent of the seven; among schools with four teachers, the children who start first grade attend a school that number of pupils enrolled could lie anywhere offers fewer than the five grades of instruction in between 50 and 500. A closer look at the problem the primary cycle. Making it possible for all schools suggests that the inconsistencies in teacher alloca- to offer the full cycle-by removing constraints on tion affect schools in rural areas more adversely staffing or facilities-would ensure that no child than schools in urban areas. Schools in the city of who wishes to complete the cycle is pushed out of Antananarivo are particularly favored in this the system. The study also identifies the limited regard, while those in Antsiranana and Toamasina instructional time that children receive as an impor- are generally less well endowed relative to schools tant supply-side constraint. There is much room for in other provinces. Yet the bulk of the global pattern improvement in this regard: only 43 percent of all of inconsistency in teacher allocation arises from the public primary schools in the country offer their pupils a full day of instruction (that is, between six Figure 3 and eight hours daily), with the remaining schools Relation between number of publicly-paid offering no more than four hours and some even teachers and number of pupils in public offering only two hours. Because instructional time primary schools, 1998 is the single most important influence on children's progress in learning, the short instructional day for the majority of Malagasy children is a key factor behind the country's high rates of dropout and rep- . etition. Addressing these supply-side constraints 20 would require concerted and sustained efforts to rationalize the deployment of teachers across z ' schools and to enhance the efficiency of time use by __ _ - teachers. N 2er 750 1000 Nurnber of pupils  EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN MADAGASCAR 9 poor distribution of teachers across schools within ensure effective teaching. On average, about 62 per- each province, rather than from differences across cent of the country's public primary schools organ- provinces per se. ize their classes for multigrade teaching, and the The freeze on teacher recruitment during the share rises to 70 percent among schools with fewer 1990s did little to ease the situation. For the system than 75 pupils. of public primary schools as a whole, the pupil-to- Yet most of the schools implement multigrade teacher ratio rose from less than 40:1, on average, at teaching in a highly ineffective manner. Instead of the beginning of the decade, to about 53:1 at pres- having all the children in the same classroom ent, implying that schools generally became grouped by grade level for a combination of increasingly understaffed over the decade. How- instruction and independent work over the course ever, the large inconsistencies in teacher allocation of the entire day (as is the practice in almost all across schools exacerbated what was already a dif- other countries), teachers in Madagascar tend to ficult situation, so that across the system today some organize their pupils for instruction one group at a scihools enioy a relatively favorable allocation relative to time in the classroom. More than half of the public thieir stiudent populationi, while manty othiers experience schools using multigrade teaching offer their pupils severe shortages that seriously compromise their less than a full day of instruction (table 3). Given capacity to deliver services effectively. Since the that instructional time, including time that pupils hiring freeze was lifted in 1997-98, the situation has spend on independent work in the classroom, is the improved somewhat. The significant increases in single most important factor affecting student recruitment currently under way-about 3,500 new learning, it is indeed a matter of urgency to change positions in 2001 (representing a 10 percent the current arrangements for multigrade teaching increase) and more planned for future years-pro- so as to ensure that all schools offer their pupils full- vide a golden opportunity to make further gains in day instruction. The fact that many other develop- this regard. Turning the potential for improvement ing countries, including those at Madagascar's level into reality would require two key ingredients: (a) of development (such as Burkina Faso) have suc- defining and applying precise and transparent cri- cessfully implemented multigrade teaching with teria for teacher allocation centered on enrollments good results, suggests that the change is as desir- and possibly other relevant factors and (b) making able as it is feasible. systematic efforts, including the use of appropriate financial incentives for posting to rural schools and other difficult-to-reach areas, to ensure that new Table 3 Incomplete schools, multigrade teaching, teacher recruits are allocated to the under-endowed and time use in public and private schools, schools. 1998 (percent) Better time use and arrangements for Indicator Public Private multigrade teaching First graders in a school with less than five grades 18.8 - Besides the poor allocation of teachers across Schools offering multigrade instruction schools, the system also suffers from suboptimal use of teachers' and pupils' time, a problem that All schools 61.5 73.8 arises mainly from inadequate arrangements for Schools with less than 75 pupilsa 69.9 91.0 multigrade teaching. The geographic spread of Madagascar's population is such that many public by instructional time schools serve relatively few pupils, with nearly half Full day 43.5 75.8 enrolling fewer than 100 pupils each. In such Half day 18.5 12.9 schools, the use of multigrade teaching-whereby Less than a half day 37.5 11.2 one teacher takes charge of pupils from several - Not available. grades-is appropriate both to manage costs and to a Such schools account for 31.5 percent of all schools.  10 AFRICA REGION HUMAN DEVELOPMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES Weak link between funding and student learning schools differ widely in how they are run, for exam- ple, in how teachers use their instructional time and Many believe that inadequate funding constrains manage their classes and how their supervisors educational quality. There is, of course, some valid- guide, monitor, and evaluate their work. These ped- ity to this view, since schools cannot be expected to agogical processes work more effectively in some offer adequate services in the absence of a mini- schools than in others, and the result is reflected in mum package of schooling inputs. For policy pur- the gaps in learning outcomes even across compa- poses, however, it is important to see funding for rably funded schools serving similar clienteles. That education as a means to produce student learning, the disparities are large is symptomatic of a system rather than as an end in itself. In other words, the with weak management and oversight of the process of focus should be on the process of transforming teaching and learning in schools. These results imply resources into student learning. How well do that, although lack of funding may constrain per- schools in Madagascar perform in this regard? formance in some schools, particularly those where Figure 4 shows some pertinent results based on a minimum conditions for learning are not met, an sample of 70 public primary schools surveyed in infusion of additional spending would make sense 1999 in the PASEC study sponsored by CONFE- only if accompanied by concurrent measures to MEN. Each circle in the figure represents a sample improve the management of pedagogical processes school whose position is determined by its level of operating at the level of schools and classrooms. public spending per pupil (x-axis) and the average test score of its pupils in French and mathematics Figure 4 (y-axis), after controlling for the pupils' level of Spending per pupil and test scores among learning at the start of the school year and their second graders in public primary schools, socioeconomic composition. The results s:how that, 1998 although spending per pupil correlates positively with learning outcomes, the relationship is very weak. Thus schools with comparable levels of e spending per pupil produce widely different levels .5 of student learning, and schools with similar levels / of student learning do so with very different levels 0 of funding. The same weak relation between spend- ing and learning obtains when the analysis is repeated using data for all public primary schools .C in the system, with learning measured by pass rates on the CEPE examination at the end of fifth grade. The lack of a strong relation between funding 0 50 l00 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 and learning outcomes across schools suggests that Public spending per pupil (thousands of FMG)  4 Secondary Education O ver the course of the 1990s, enrollments in Balance between the lower and upper 0 lower secondary education rose only secondary cycles modestly, while those in upper secondary education declined. At the same time, the distribu- The medium-term direction is not as clear-cut for tion of enrollments shifted in favor of the private secondary education as it is for either primary edu- sector, with the number of students in the public cation or for vocational/technical education and system shrinking 12 percent in the first cycle and 26 postsecondary education. The problem becomes percent in the second cycle between 1990 and 1998. clearer, however, when the two cycles of secondary By the end of the decade, private schools accounted schooling are put in perspective. In most develop- for 45 and 49 percent, respectively, of total enroll- ing countries, lower secondary education is increas- ments in lower and upper secondary education. ingly and rightly viewed as a natural continuation The sector study identifies two issues as par- of primary schooling and, therefore, as part of the ticularly relevant to the future development of basic education that all children need in order to secondary education: (a) how to manage its ex- acquire the skills to function productively as adults pansion as part of the broader strategy for develop- in a modernizing economy. In contrast, upper sec- ment of the whole system and (b) how to rationalize ondary education is more appropriately viewed as service delivery in a system that will continue to in- a prelude to higher education, implying that its clude many small schools. As a direct service expansion should be driven by the same considera- provider, the government faces the following key tion of labor market absorption as in higher educa- challenges: tion itself. Given the current and projected labor market * Expand enrollments at a moderate pace in the conditions in Madagascar, it would appear prudent lower secondary cycle and focus more on to keep enrollments in upper secondary education, quality improvements than on expansion in particularly in the public sector, under somewhat the upper secondary cycle firm control, with student selection based on merit and academic potential. At the same time, greater