Several public schools are facing a severe shortage of teachers. An official from the Ministry of National Education has outlined measures to address the issue.
In a public primary school located 20 km from the capital, the principal, Mrs. Landy (a pseudonym), is simultaneously teaching T1, T2, and T3 levels across three different classrooms. Yesterday, during written exams, she had to rotate between rooms to distribute papers and provide instructions. “I am going to the other room. While I am away, do not talk, cheat, or copy from your classmates. Anyone caught will receive a zero,” she warned the T3 students before rushing to the other classes to repeat the same instructions.
Despite her efforts, students began talking and cheating as soon as she turned her back. “The students are restless. We are doing our best, but it is truly exhausting,” she admitted, feeling overwhelmed. Yesterday, only two teachers were managing classes from T1 to T5, with her colleague handling T4 and T5. “Normally, there are three of us, including the preschool teacher, but she fell ill. Since we are already overloaded, preschool classes have been suspended until her return,” the principal added.
In another school district in Analamanga, public primary schools are also operating with reduced staff and multi-grade classrooms. In the Androy region, the situation is even more dire. “On average, a school operates with two teachers, and some have only one,” stated a head of the school district (Cisco).
A Ministry of National Education official acknowledged the shortage but clarified that it does not affect all institutions. “It mainly affects schools in rural and remote areas. In contrast, there is an overstaffing of teachers in large cities,” he noted. According to him, this situation is largely due to poor staff distribution: “Once recruited, some teachers request to leave their assigned schools to move to the city.”
To address this, the ministry is considering recruiting non-civil servant teachers who are already in place and residing in the villages where their schools are located as civil servants. In localities lacking teachers, parents and community members are often tempted to call upon untrained volunteers to teach. However, the recruitment of new non-civil servant teachers has been prohibited since 2014.
“Civil servant teachers are retiring, while new recruits request transfers and leave their assigned schools,” school principals lamented.
Students are directly suffering the consequences of this staff shortage. “The students are discouraged. As soon as one teacher is absent, two or three classes come to a standstill. Education is simply not functioning as it should,” a school principal lamented.
Captured & Published at: 2026-10-28 05:53:34 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/10/education-des-ecoles-souffrent-de.html