A major partnership for the education of young people in Madagascar: The NGO ‘Projet Jeune Leader (PJL)’ and the Madagascan Ministry of Education are joining forces to transform the future of 400,000 rural teenagers.
Published on 25 June 2025 at 11:30 - Modified the 26 June 2025 at 14:05
From September 2025, one in six rural Malagasy teenagers will benefit from PJL's life skills education programme. Supported for 10 years by the Government of the Principality of Monaco, this programme is a crucial response to the challenges faced by young adolescents in Madagascar, including teenage pregnancy and marriage, lack of information about their lives, rights and health, and gender-based violence.
A recognised programme adapted to local realities
Since 2013, PJL has offered the only Ministry-approved transformative life skills education programme at secondary school level, focusing on puberty, leadership, healthy relationships and gender equality.
This curriculum was initially delivered by "Young Leaders" educators, recruited from the general public, trained and supported by PJL to deliver weekly educational sessions throughout the school year, integrated into the timetable of students from 6th to 3rd grade in rural middle schools.
Today, the programme is delivered by young teachers and teacher-trainees from the Ministry, the "Mpanabe Jeunes Leaders", proving its relevance and legitimacy for scaling up to national level.
This strategic partnership, welcomed by Maia Ramarosandratana -Executive Director and founder of PJL- and Bénédicte Schutz -Monaco's Special Representative for International Cooperation-, marks a decisive step. It demonstrates the commitment of the Ministry of Education to invest in this programme, which aims to empower young people and provide them with essential tools for their development.
Towards national sustainability and extension
From this academic year 2025-2026, PJL will support the Ministry of Education to ensure the implementation and financial sustainability of this model on a national scale. The aim is to integrate this programme into all rural public secondary schools in Madagascar, thereby consolidating a positive and lasting impact for hundreds of thousands of teenagers.
According to Maia Ramarosandratana, Executive Director of Projet Jeune Leader, ‘this partnership with the Madagascan Ministry of Education is a decisive step, the fruit of several years' work, in which the support of the Monegasque Cooperation has played an essential role’.
It should be noted that the Monegasque Cooperation is supporting a new PJL pilot project, the ‘social franchise’, which aims to replicate its model within civil society organisations working with vulnerable adolescents, particularly those who have dropped out of school or are disabled. We wish it every success!
