Antsirabé — Madagascar
Creation, Support and Development of Fanantenana School
With the support of Monde par la Main, the Scolarisation Madagascar Association has opened Fanantenana School, a new primary school in the Antsirabe region of Madagascar. On September 9, 2024, during its inaugural school year, the school welcomed 151 children aged 4 to 11 (from preschool to 5th grade), and the 6th-grade class will open in September 2025. Each class has a maximum of 25 students, except for the preschool, where the number is limited to 20. Fanantenana employs a dedicated team of 14 teachers, including 2 teaching assistants, a headmistress, and an educational advisor. This expanded team is crucial, as many of the children come from slums and have never attended school, and 5% of the students have disabilities. The school’s kitchen team consists of 5 cooks who prepare meals for the children and staff, as well as the 310 meals served through Pousse-Pousse du Cœur—hot meals distributed four times a week in the various slums of Antsirabe. The school also has a functioning vegetable garden spanning 130 square meters, using crop rotation to ensure a varied nutritional intake, while avoiding the use of chemicals. The project also includes training for staff members on topics such as disability care, children’s rights, pedagogy, and nutrition.
Partnership between Give a Hand and Scolarisation Madagascar
This marks the third collaboration between Give a Hand and Scolarisation Madagascar. We would like to express our deep gratitude to the Scolarisation Madagascar team, whose passion and dedication are truly inspiring. For over three years, we’ve been working together to provide primary education to the most underserved children.
Scolarisation Madagascar’s aim is to give children in shanty towns and rural areas the opportunity to eat and go to school, in order to combat child labor. – Raymond Arbona
Scolarisation Madagascar
After a career as a social worker as a specialized educator and social worker, Raymond, originally from the Annecy region, devotes his retirement to helping the most disadvantaged. With a long experience in associations, with the creation of several associations for Madagascar in the Rhône-Alpes region (Lyon, Annecy...) or the presidency of the Restos du Coeur de Haute-Savoie, Raymond is the president -founder of Schooling Madagascar. He now spends 10 months a year in the field, in Madagascar, to direct the actions of his association. He returns two months a year to France to liaise with the members of the association and to hold the annual General Assembly.