Public high schools are struggling to provide satisfactory teaching conditions. Overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and inadequate equipment are undermining the functioning of many institutions.
A concerning reality is emerging in public high schools. Teachers report persistent difficulties: overcrowded classrooms, non-existent or dilapidated laboratories and insufficient numbers of educators.
In many establishments, infrastructure is not keeping pace with growing student numbers. "Classrooms designed for forty-five students now hold sixty or even seventy, with three students per desk designed for two," teachers report. The shortage of qualified teachers is making matters worse. Some classes have had their hours reduced. "Normally, physics-chemistry is 4 hours per week for tenth grade. But due to teacher shortages, it's been cut to 3 hours per week at our school. The same applies to other science subjects," explains a physics-chemistry teacher at a public high school in Antananarivo.
Overcrowding and teacher shortages particularly affect rural areas and remote regions, where schools struggle more to attract qualified staff.
A Worrying Situation
"Opening parallel classes is possible, but teacher shortages would further reduce class time. However, in line with state policy on universal education access, no student admitted to tenth grade can be excluded," says a school principal. Under these conditions, teachers have little room to provide individualized student support.
Insufficient teaching materials complete this picture. Many high schools lack laboratories or, when they have them, equipment remains inadequate. "Most lessons remain purely theoretical because our laboratory critically lacks materials for practical work. We have no chemical solutions or separatory funnels. The electronic equipment we have—ammeters and voltmeters—are already very outdated and are equipment from middle school level," says a physics-chemistry teacher. Practical work is an important element of science education.
Adding to these structural difficulties is the economic hardship of many families. "Students arrive in class hungry. Some complain about it. This causes a lack of concentration," notes a teacher.
For some educators, the accumulation of these difficulties, combined with intensive social media use and poorly supervised artificial intelligence use, may be contributing to declining baccalaureate performance.
Miangaly Ralitera