Education in Madagascar is quite distinguished. If in medieval times, before the 16th century, Arab sailors had set up the first primary Islamic schools (kuttabs) on the east and south-east coast of the island, and it was much later, around 1800, that the first European formal schools came into being.
Education has always been accompanied by religion in almost all countries of the world and Madagascar is no exception to this rule. The Islamization of the east coast and the Christianization of the center and the highlands took place with the introduction of these two main religions in the history of the island.
Be that as it may, if Arabic dominated this historic slice of the island in medieval times, Latin, taken by the first Christian missionaries, took its place quite easily because of the decline of the Arab naval force which could not keep up with the frantic pace of Europeans to conquer the world.
In 1818, the first formal European school was built in Toamasina and came in 1820, the very first European school in the future capital of the island. This initiative was led by King Radama I who wanted a closer relationship with Europe through religious missionaries.
The introduction of these institutions on the island led almost automatically to the recognition of the highland language as the official language of the island and Latin as the official script.
At that time, Madagascar had the most efficient educational system of all the sub-Saharan territory. Currently, due to the economic and social context, this place is only a distant memory.
For higher education, young Malagasy people turn to the sister islands and Europe to acquire diplomas and hope to find a good job.
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