A photo illustrating the precarity of education in the South. Fictional schools. The number of public primary schools recorded in a school district of the Atsimo Andrefana region does not always match reality on the ground. "I go down to the field unexpectedly to conduct follow-ups. A school fund allocation of three million ariary is sent to each school to support pedagogical activities such as the preparation of teaching materials. I have with me a list of primary schools to visit. When I arrive at the indicated location, I tour the village and ask where the public primary school is. People are somewhat surprised and tell me: but there is no school here," recounts a source from a school district. She adds that her journey led her to even more astounding situations. "In another commune, there is indeed a school, but there are neither students nor teachers. I then call the school director's number on my list. He tells me he is working in the fields and the students are at the market because it is market day," she continues. The source recounts that the report she established after these field visits never reached its recipient. "Politics gets involved. Politicians call me to prevent me from denouncing the troubling characteristics I observed on the ground. The education sector has always been politicized. And unfortunately, the sector is not progressing," she adds. In the fokontany of Anja Belitsake, a rural commune in Itampolo, Ampanihy district, students have abandoned the public primary school. They have joined a private school. "Parents prefer to send their children to this private school, even if it means paying tuition fees and registration fees and complying with the school's requirements. Even though this school limits the number of students, parents insist on having their children enrolled," recounts Sanina, a volunteer teacher at Anja Belitsake. For her, it is both a good and a bad thing. "It is a good indicator of parents' motivation to send their children to school. It is bad for public schools that have lost students," she explains. Non-volunteer teachers at the public school, however, continue to receive various allowances from the Ministry of National Education.