‘Ny fianarana no lova soa indrindra’ // ‘Education is the best heritage’

- Local saying

Climate Change, Environmental Degradation & Education

Climate change and environmental degradation go hand in hand. The degradation of forest through deforestation, releases carbon dioxide and contributes to climate change. Equally, climate change can cause the warming of the oceans and degradation of coral reefs, through coral bleaching. The Malagasy people rely on both these ecosystems heavily. It’s a devastating cycle. Across the world there are amazing organisations working to slow down the effects of climate change and creating alternative, sustainable livelihoods. This is being done through regenerative agricultural practices, renewable and decentralised energy, green housing, efficient and green transport, plant rich diets, multistrata agroforestry, tropical forest and mangrove reforestation, coastal wetland restoration, marine permaculture, the list can go on and on. Another very important method of combating climate change is through education, particularly of girls. As well as laying down a foundation for the vibrant lives for girls and women, their families and communities, education is also one of the most powerful levers available for avoiding emissions by curbing population growth. According to Project Drawdown , ‘225 million women in lower-income countries say they want the ability to choose whether and when to become pregnant but lack the necessary access to contraception.’ Women with more years of education have fewer and healthier children. Educated girls realise higher wages, greater opportunities and it also equips them to face the impacts of climate change coming their way.

It is for this reason we need to support the education of children as much as possible, particularly in undeveloped countries which are being hit hard by environmental degradation and climate change, such as Madagascar.

Education in Madagascar

Madagascar, despite having a wealth of natural resources, is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 162/187 on the UNDP 2019 Human Development Index . In Madagascar, there is little infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather, and they are experiencing profound impacts right now. Cyclones are wiping out agricultural fields. Droughts and floods are also hurting agricultural production and food security, therefore increasing malnutrition.

Prior to 2009, the country was making slow but definite progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education. However, political instability since the coup in 2009, has led to an 82% fall in national investment in education (World Bank, 2018). Madagascar has the world’s fifth highest number of out of school children (UNICEF, 2018), and 97% of children under 10 are illiterate (World Bank). Why is this bad? The answer is simple, education = development.

1) Education lifts people out of poverty and boosts economic growth. It provides access to key livelihood opportunities, allowing children and their families to break the poverty cycle.

2) Education empowers women, enabling them to lead more vibrant and stable lives, as well as family planning. One additional school year can increase a women’s earnings by 10%-20% (Classrooms of Hope ).

3) Education improves knowledge of sanitation and therefore health.

4) Education improves long term environmental sustainability by promoting concern, awareness and new attitudes. Students grow to be more effective stewards of food, soil, trees, and water, and have the capacity to cope with shocks from natural disasters and extreme weather events

Despite numbers of primary school attendance rising in recent years, attendance rates hide an education system that fails to meet the needs of many children across the country (SEED, 2016 ). Shortages of resources, qualified teachers, basic facilities and funding in schools (particularly in rural areas), lead to poor quality of education for many children, and therefore student dropouts.

Solo’s School

Nearly 2/3’s of the population in Madagascar is under the age of 24, even more estimated in the Toliara province. This can be seen either of two ways. One, it can contribute to further unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation. Two, it can create an opportunity to educate and influence Madagascar's future leaders and break the poverty cycle. The latter is what Solo Nentea strongly believes. Solo is the proud founder, director and head teacher of Master School (pictured above), a primary school in the poorest region of Madagascar, Toliara. I met Solo when I worked at ReefDoctor , and he was one of the inspirational educators who encouraged me into teaching. He is very experienced in teaching a range of subjects, and his schools’ subjects are Malagasy, French, Maths, History, Geography, Environmental education and Science. Master School, which is registered with the Ministry of National Education, has a statement of: ‘Creating Future Leaders for Positive Change’. He is able to employ 7 dedicated teachers, who, as they are passionate about education, work for an extremely low wage. However, being a young primary school of nearly 3 years, it is very underequipped. Solo wants to provide a safe, suitable and comfortable school for his students, and for that he is looking for some very kind donations for several things.

1) Desks and benches (16 of each)

We all know how difficult concentrating at school can sometimes be, especially on a blistering hot day, attempting to listen to your teacher explain French grammar or long mathematical equations. It’s tough. Now imagine how much harder it would be if you had to study whilst sitting and writing all day on a concrete floor, getting a numb bum and ‘pins and needles’ in the process.

Solo wants to address this issue by providing each class with enough tables and benches. This will increase school attendance by improving the quality of education available.

2) Textbooks for all years

There’s only so much you can get across on a blackboard, and the lessons are rubbed off at the end of each day. Textbooks really come into their only here being more engaging, providing colourful and visual explanations, as well as giving children the chance to constantly go back and refer to a certain subject. Internet is not an option out here.

3) Daily lunches

Food is essential for concentration and therefore good learning. Unfortunately, many of Solo’s students turn up to school without breakfast or return home to no dinner. He therefore wants to fundraise money to feed his 63 students’ a lunch of rice, beans and fruit. This will nourish them and provide the energy to learn, encourage them to go to school as well as support their struggling families. According to Mary's Meals , access to food ‘Increases feelings of happiness at school and decreases levels of anxiety due to hunger’.

4) Mattress

Reception students take a nap midday. Currently, they are lying on a sheet on the stone floor. A mattress will make this nap much more enjoyable and effective, further increasing their happiness at school.

5) Laptop

This will make planning and storing sessions so much more efficient, as well as giving Solo the ability to create worksheets and educational material.

Apologies for the low quality photos, however they show the situation in the school perfectly. So, in summary, I, on behalf of Solo and the children of Master School, are asking for kind donations towards:

- Sustainably made desk and chairs (x16): 12.5 Euro each

- Textbooks: 150 Euro in total

- Mattress (x4): 10 Euro each

- Laptop: 250 Euro

- All excess funding will go towards school lunches of rice, beans and fruit.

MISAOTRA and THANK YOU so much!

(Image from when Master School received the first book of the Zara Loko series, 'One Turtle and all the Rubbish'.)