26/03/2019. You will all agree with us in saying that today the children of Antananarivo, (even from all over the world) really need the support and attention of their parents in education, especially for primary and secondary education in the capital. And since we at Stileex Post are snooping around, we decided to do a survey on this theme that affects the people of Antananarivo very much! We therefore propose to find out what parents think about their children’s school.
Note: We collected 911 responses to our field survey across Tana.
The Tananarivians by far prefer private schools
You probably didn’t see it coming, but even with the many schools that exist throughout Madagascar’s capital, almost half of the children, 48%, don’t go for a variety of reasons. But in any case, there is also a very wide margin between parents who prefer to spend money to enrol their children in private schools (41%) and those who choose public education instead (11%). Parents who want to give a good education to their children obviously opt for private schools (with these problems with FRAM teachers in Madagascar). Indeed, almost all the parents surveyed, 82%, find that private schools have a better quality and a good level, thanks to the number of pupils in each classroom. In addition, the majority of these schools are, of course, oriented towards the French language.
Malagasy education prioritizes the literary level
If today the other courses, and especially the other languages, take more and more place in Malagasy education compared to the Malagasy and French courses, the level of the latter two always seems to be the best according to the parents. So by comparing the evaluation of the level of the courses by the surveys, we came to this conclusion:
- Malagasy language courses: 24%
- French courses: 22%
- English courses: 18%
- Mathematics course: 16%
- Physics course: 14%
- Reading: 6%
As you can see, according to the parents of young Tananarivians, Madagascar’s national education system generally favours the literary rather than the scientific.
Good conditions before enrolling your child in school
Choosing a school for your son or daughter is not something you do blindly. In fact, as parents we have to think about and set several conditions before entrusting our children to others. You will surely agree with this point of view: the very first concern parents have about schools is safety! While 82% of respondents strongly agree that the school provides a safe and orderly environment for students and staff, there is still a percentage of 7% who do not agree. Perhaps this is why parents prefer to send their children to the school that is the closest to their home (or office).
Of course, parents must also look as far ahead as possible to ensure their little one’s future. Most Tananarivian parents (64%) choose schools that guarantee their child’s future, especially with good school programs and operations. In fact, more than half of the respondents understand and accept the school curricula established by the government. However, the percentage of 61% of parents understanding their children’s school programmes and operations at school is still quite low. Perhaps a change of strategy is needed?
Alongside the security of the school and the future of the child, there is also the open-mindedness of both parties. Parents need to be in tune with the psychology of the school (and vice versa). For example, if the parents agree to send their children to a specific school, apart from the question of money of course, it is because the parents naturally approve of the school’s internal rules and the management of the headmaster. According to the parents we questioned, 75% of them want their opinion to be taken into account.
Conclusion of this survey on parents’ opinions of the school
Thanks to this survey, we were able to see that Tananarivian parents are struggling as much as they can to enroll their children in private education. But in any case, the respondents were all more or less in agreement with all the major questions asked, from respect for each other by the students, through the efficiency and fairness of the school, to having a good school environment.
Of course, since there is never smoke without a shot, the fact that 48% of parents simply do not send their children to school, for various reasons, saddened our investigation. But according to the 52% of parents, the authorities in this area should develop a better strategy to reduce the number of children who do not go to school.
