Imagine you are back in high school. Let's say you are in your third
year of Spanish and have already learned quite a bit. But about a
third of the students in your class are, because of bad teachers or a
lack of effort or both, essentially beginners. They have had two years
of Spanish already, and received failing grades both times, but they
were passed anyway. While it sounds like something out of a dystopian
novel, this is reality in Madagascar's education system.
I teach seconde (10th grade) level English, which is students' fifth
year of the language, yet the vast majority of my students are at a
beginner's level. This causes numerous problems for me in the
classroom.
First, it holds down the rest of the class, who might have benefited
from more of a challenge but will not get it because of how many
students already fail when classes are easy. Second, it makes teaching
the required material from the curriculum very difficult. Teaching the
most basic grammar points is made tedious by the lengthy explanations
and definitions required to get one's point across to the low level
students. Third, adequate help cannot be given to struggling students,
even the most dilligent and motivated ones, because it would put the
rest of the class behind. Students take common exams by grade level
and must also be adequately prepared for their baccalaureate exams at
the end of lycee (high school), so falling behind is not an option.
As I alluded to, a part of the problem is teachers, who are generally
not very good (especially at the CEG [middle school] level, and
especially in rural areas). And part of the problem is a lack of time,
as students receive just two to four hours of instruction per week,
depending on their school (most get three). Resources are also
non-existent, of course, and the national English curriculum is poorly
written, ineffective and irrelevant to students' lives, not to mention
the fact that it has not been updated since 1996!
But in my view, the education system as a whole is the main culprit.
Madagascar was a French colony, so its education system was "given" to
it by the French. I can't speak to the state of the French education
system today, nor in 1960 when Madagascar became independant, for that
matter. So I can't really say what is the same here and in France and
what is different. But I do know that here, the entire system
essentially has not changed since independance.
As if missing out on decades of improvements in educational philosophy
and teaching methods wasn't bad enough, the education system given to
Madagascar by the French has allowed the wide range in proficiency
found in Malagasy classrooms. For those who are unfamiliar with it,
here is a brief overview:
Students at the CEG and lycee levels (middle and high school) remain
with the same group of students (their class) for all subjects. Every
term, they receive grades for each class out of 20, with 10 considered
a passing grade (This remains a part of the French system, where exams
are written to be very difficult.). An overall average of 10 or
better at the end of the year lets a student go on to the next level.
And here is where the problems really begin. A student could easily
get a 5 out of 20 in English and go on to the next grade level. And in
that next level, they take the next level of English (as well as every
other subject), since they remain with the same group of students for
each subject. It is in this way that students can fail a subject year
after year and continue to move on without a problem. They are not
very motivated to learn English as it is, and since a failing grade is
averaged into the rest of their grades, they have almost no
consequences for getting one.
This passing of failing students has to be one of the great problems
with Madagascar's education system. Unfortunately, the colonial
mentality still present here prevents Malagasy people from effecting
meaningful change in the structures left to them by the French
(basically, if the French told us to do it, it must be good, since
they are a developed country).
The current education system is not good for Madagascar or its
students. The American system of having different groups of students
for each subject, regardless of grade level, would be so much more
effective here. Students would be more motivated to pass each class
since failing would mean retaking it the following year. And since
classes would be grouped according to student proficiency rather than
grade level, teachers would be able to give students of all levels
they help they need. Since failing students would be kept behind,
achieving students could get the challenges they need to improve in
regular classes, while failing students would have a chance to relearn
the material and get more detailed explanations.
Oh, and this isn't even considering the fact that English might not be
for all students. All Malagasy students are required to take French
and English (the latter beginning in sixieme [sith grade]), and some
end up taking Spanish or German as well. Yet students in American high
schools choose one foreign language to take at a time, not two or
three, and those who meet minimum requirements and wish to stop do so.
But here, even students on the non-humanities tracks must take English
through the end of lycee (high school). Obviously, motivating them is
even harder.
I can't imagine the situation here improving much without radical
changes to the education system as a whole. And such changes need not
be overwhelming. The current system could be phased out in stages, or
current students could be grandfathered in. Malagasy people are the
ones with the most at stake, so they are the ones who would best be
able to figure out such solutions. But the impetus for change must
come first, and I can't imagine that coming for a long time. Yet the
idealist and optimist that I am, I'll hold out hope that Madagascar
soon gets a new set of leaders who will break with the past and get
the country onto a path of reform and development. Hoping, but not
holding my breath either.#End
