Antananarivo, July 22, 2025 — 4.7 million Malagasy students in pre-primary and primary education, 135,000 teachers, and 27,000 public primary schools across the country will directly benefit from the newly approved Transforming Access and Learning in Madagascar (TALIM) Project. With a total budget of $185 million, including $150 million from the International Development Association (IDA) and $35 million from the Global Partnership for Education, TALIM is part of the Advancing Innovative Methods to Promote Learning in Eastern and Southern Africa (AIM4Learning) Program. This third phase focuses on Madagascar and aims to increase the completion rate and improve learning outcomes in primary education across the country.
Madagascar’s education sector faces deep and multifaceted challenges. While access to education has improved and gender gaps have narrowed, school completion and learning outcomes remain alarmingly low. Only 63.3 percent of girls and 57.6 percent of boys complete primary school, and 95 percent of children at the end of primary school are unable to read proficiently. The system is burdened by a high repetition rate—25.3 percent in public schools, twice the Sub-Saharan Africa average—and a reliance on underqualified community teachers (FRAM), who are fully supported by parents and make up 63 percent of the primary teaching workforce. Infrastructure is critically lacking, and cyclones destroy 1,000-2,000 classrooms each year. The country invests only 2.5 percent of GDP in education, below the regional average of 3.7 percent.
“In a country where nearly half the population is under 18, children and youth are Madagascar’s greatest strength and hope for change. This new education project aims to build on government efforts to address the learning crisis and increase primary school completion. Every child deserves a fair start in life, and that begins with access to quality education,” said Atou Seck, World Bank Country Manager for Madagascar.
The TALIM Project is designed to tackle Madagascar’s learning crisis by improving primary education outcomes and addressing several systemic challenges in three areas: (1) teaching quality and teacher management, (2) school infrastructure and learning environments, and (3) education sector governance. To strengthen the teaching profession, the project will support the new teacher reform and finance the testing, training, and qualification of all primary school teachers. The project will further finance the transition of 26,000 qualified and licensed teachers into contractual posts. To create safe and supportive learning environments, the project will rehabilitate over 1,000 schools in the 15 regions most affected by cyclones, making them safer and more resilient. It will also provide essential materials, including early learning kits, teacher guides, and textbooks in Malagasy, French, and mathematics, available in both print and digital formats. To support student well-being and keep children in school, TALIM will expand school feeding in areas with high food-insecurity, building on the Ministry of National Education’s existing canteen program to improve student well-being and learning. Finally, TALIM will help advance long-term education reforms by improving the Ministry of Education’s capacity through digital tools, staff training, and stronger systems for governance and accountability.
“TALIM builds on the strong foundation of the previous Madagascar Basic Education Project and takes it further. It will support the new teacher reform to strengthen the teaching profession, create safer and more resilient schools, boost student well-being, and drive lasting education reforms. This is a key moment to transform education at scale and give every child in Madagascar a real chance to succeed,” said Almedina Music, Senior Education Specialist and Task Team Leader for the TALIM Project.
Contacts:
In Madagascar: Dia Styvanley, +261 32 05 001 27, dstyvanley@worldbank.org
In Washington: Daniella van Leggelo-Padilla, +1 (202) 473-4989, dvanleggelo@worldbank.org
