Building girls’ access to learning opportunities in Madagascar

From 2020 to 2022, Zonta International supported the third phase of UNICEF’s Let Us Learn program in Madagascar. Designed to empower the most vulnerable girls in the country through equitable access to quality learning opportunities, Let Us Learn targeted children in the regions of Androy and Atsimo Andrefana who were transitioning from primary to lower secondary cycle and supported them to complete lower secondary school.

Phase III achieved the following results: n Construction of two classrooms, to benefit at least 80 children per year. n 1,200 (52% girls) out-of-school children benefited from catch-up classes and were provided with school supplies and learning materials. n 800 children (59% girls) were enrolled in school during the reporting period, thanks to the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program supported by Zonta International. n 14 school personnel (principals and teachers) and 112 students (57 boys and 55 girls) of the 14 lower secondary schools have been trained, and the development and implementation of children’s clubs has been supported. n 54 trainers of trainers (31 in Androy and 23 in Atsimo Andrefana) and 122 school principals (108 men, 14 women) have been trained to become trainers themselves and learned how to carry out pedagogical supervision. n 742 science teachers in Atsimo Andrefana (539 men and 203 women) benefited from pedagogical training to prepare and lead teaching sessions, to design and create adapted teaching materials for practical experiments, and to accompany students through the teaching/learning sessions. n Eight monitoring and technical support missions were conducted to strengthen the capacity of regional education directors to plan, carry out and monitor educational activities.

Zonta ended its partnership with Let Us Learn in 2022 but continues to support students in Madagascar through the Engaging Girls on Climate Change program. To learn more about the new project, visit zonta.org/MadagascarClimateChange.