By Ike Mgbatogu
Staff Writer
Onumba.com,USA ——— It’s all over for Madagascar’s high-ranking government officials.
The prevailing trend has long been to seek high-quality educational opportunities for their children overseas in places such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Spain, Belgium and other developed countries.
That all makes perfect sense, except for one caveat.
Why not send them to schools in Madagascar?
Hmmm?
That piercing question gets right to the heart of President Michael Randrianirina’s groundbreaking, outside the box measure banning Madagascar’s ruling elites from educating their children abroad.
That’s what I’m talking about.
The president regards it as a distraction lulling government into doldrums and paralysis fueled by a sense of misguided adequacy in education.
The ban brings one core question into sharp focus:
How do we prioritize strengthening our own educational system without getting sidetracked by outside alternatives?
It might also be noted that an active, similar ban has terminated the capacity of high-ranking government officials to hold dual citizenship or foreign passports.
This president means business.
The simple, yet potent message in all of this is simple: All of us should stay home and fix our country.
Many African nations suffer from the same crumbling educational systems, but Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, is tackling the issue head-on.
“No minister or government official shall send their children abroad for education. We are building our nation ground up and this cannot be achieved with a half-hearted commitment,” President Randrianirina said.
This policy also helps even things out for all Madagascan children. After all, children from low-income families deserve quality education abroad too, only that it is a luxury they simply cannot buy.
“To take our development seriously, we must ensure equality in our educational system.” This Jim Dandy idea will accomplish it.
He added, “No one receiving taxpayer’s money from Madagascar will be permitted to sponsor their children’s education abroad. This will not be tolerated in my government.”
The policy is grounded in an undeniable, highly compelling logic.
If top officials have a backdoor out of the domestic school system they deem inferior, then they sure would lack the incentive to build a front door worth using. It is that simple. For these nonchalant elites, there’s no personal stake in fixing a broken system they don’t plan to ever use.
Consequently, they would let the system rot, knowing their children would have access to outside alternatives.
Well ——— not any more, at least, not in Madagascar.
President Randrianirina took office in 2025 after replacing Andry Rajoelina. Rajoelina embodied all that the current president is trying to change such as the former president securing himself French citizenship before departing office, ensuring his ability to send his own children to France for education.
Yet, when he had a chance to improve the education system under his watch, he failed to deliver, even as he eyed European schools for his own children.
The Founder and Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, doesn’t like this practice, either ——- and routinely preaches against it.
“Let us collectively build our continent, rather than always flying out to somewhere else,” he said.
Should Nigeria adopt this policy?
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