Our actions in Madagascar

Launched in 2022 in Antananarivo, PasserellesNumériquesMadagascar (PNM) offers a one-year preparatory trainingbetween the end of high-school and higher studies. It is based on a holistic educational approach, combining key technical competences, soft-skills, and a personal development program. Our students come from 9 different provinces of the island.

Context

Madagascar is one of the five poorest countries in the world, with 76% of its population living below the extreme poverty line and only 11% of the Malagasy population holding a formal job. Two-thirds of the population is under 25 years old, and 500,000 young people enter the labour market each year. The enrolment rate is 76% in primary education, 27% in secondary education and drops to 13% for higher education. Children enter the labour market at a very low age (in 2018 41% of 5-and 11-year-olds were participating, 36% of which were involved in economic activities).

7500 profiles are needed each year to meet the needs of the digital sector, while only 700 students are trained annually.

Selection

For this first promotion selected, Passerelles Numériques Madagascar relied on its network of local partners: SOS Children’s Villages Madagascar, La Providence Antsohihy, the Ketsa Center of Zazakely Sambatra and the SESAME Program of the IECD. 25 young people including 11 young women were selected.

The project

The head office of Passerelles numériques Madagascar is housed in the offices of its partner SOS Children’s Villages Madagascar in the capital Antananarivo (Andrainarivo, near the Panorama hotel). The building hosting the preparation and boarding school is located 1.2km from the center of the capital, within the Henintsoa hotel, in Behitsy Ambohimangakely ByPass.

The first preparatory year promotion made up of 25 young people (11 girls and 14 boys) exceptionally lasts 9 months from January to September 2022, with a month of internship in September, in order to give young beneficiaries the possibility to take the entry exams into identified higher education institutions.

During this springboard year, students will thus develop their cross-functional, technical and soft skills essential to a sustainable career in the era of the digital economy. But the objective is first to integrate one of the already existing private or public training courses.

Impact

At the end of the IT & Digital Preparation of PN Madagascar, the objective is for each young person to be admitted to higher education in computer science and/or digital technology. Each young person will receive financial and moral support and follow-up until their first job.

In 2023, we will select 25 new young people.