Project Sekoly Madagascar

 Securing futures with education

 In Madagascar’s Anosy region half of 6-10-year-olds have never attended school, and a staggering 97% of the population do not have access to basic sanitation. Household education levels are shown to be linked to poverty rates, therefore education is crucial to allowing vulnerable children and the wider communities to escape the cycle of poverty.

The NCCT are supporting Project Sekoly, run by SEED Madagascar, which provided Mandiso School with the following facilities in 2022:

Construction of a two-classroom school building, fully-furnished, providing an additional 100 classroom places. Construction of a three-room teachers’ house, providing the Headmaster, his family, and one teacher with reliable housing. Construction of two three-cubicle latrine blocks, complete with menstrual hygiene management facilities. Provision of a water pipe with three taps, providing access to running water. WASH nudges. WASH education training delivered to teachers. Establishment and training of WASH infrastructure management committee.

  This has enabled students to attend full days of school in hygienic grounds and understand the importance of hygiene and sanitation, which will reduce health problems. Access to education increases child safety and the potential for financial stability in future. Here are some photos of the finished school:

We are now focusing on a third school project with SEED Madagascar, supporting children in another rural community in Madagascar through the repair and expansion of Sarisambo Primary and Lower Secondary Schools. Here is the existing school building which currently houses 726 students:

The new project will: 

• Repair and furnish the existing school building, and will construct and furnish two more school buildings that will house five new classrooms; with additional land provided by the community this will allow for separation of the primary and lower secondary schools.
• Repair the five existing latrines and, construct 10 new gender-segregated latrines with two menstrual hygiene management cubicles;
• Install sanitation stations, coupled with education sessions on WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) processes, to reduce occurrences of hygiene-related illness and subsequent missed days of school;
• Install two rainwater harvesting systems to provide clean drinking water for students and teachers;
• Offset carbon emissions associated with the construction of the school and provide a community food and fuel resource through the establishment of a community-managed tree plantation.

Further details can be found here