Publication: Madagascar - A Decade of Reform and Innovation in Higher Education Institutional Capacity-Building in a Developmental Perspective
Date
2000-05
ISSN
Published
2000-05
Author(s)
Viens, Daniel
Lynch, James
Abstract
Higher education in Madagascar was in
crisis in the early 1990s. Campuses were taken over by
squatters and vandals. Little if any teaching was taking
place because senior members of universities could not enter
buildings. The quality of education was extremely low, with
little or no research conducted, the staff demoralized, and
the students alienated. Enrollment rose above 44,000 due to
"eternal students" who were paid a grant for as
long as they stayed in university. Students repeated course
years as many as five times. The internal efficiency of
institutions was approximately 30 percent, and external
efficiency was less than 10 percent in many faculties and
departments. Curricula and teaching methods were outdated
and there was no system for evaluating of the
institutions' performance. A large portion of the
public financing was being wasted. Yet higher education was
recognized by the government and the World Bank as being
indispensable for generating the human resources needed for
economic development and poverty alleviation. This article
traces the development of a strategic partnership in higher
education between the Government of Madagascar, the World
Bank and other donors over a period of almost ten years.
Citation
“Viens, Daniel; Lynch, James. 2000. Madagascar - A Decade of Reform and Innovation in Higher Education Institutional Capacity-Building in a Developmental Perspective. Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs; No. 159. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/c77e3041-3a57-54c7-9698-e6b301d61d1c License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”