<P> Primary school enrollment is nearly universal, a significant increase from the lower figure of 65 percent enrollment in 1965 (Madagascar had 13,000 public primary schools in 1994); 36 percent of the relevant school - age population attends secondary school (there were 700 general education secondary schools and eighty lycées or classical secondary institutions) and 5 percent of the relevant school - age population attends institutions of higher learning . Despite these statistics, a 1993 UNICEF report considers the education system a "failure," pointing out that in contrast to the early 1980s when education represented approximately 33 percent of the national budget, in 1993 education constituted less than 20 percent of the budget, and 95 percent of this amount was devoted to salaries . The average number of years required for a student to complete primary school was twelve . Girls have equal access with boys to educational institutions . </P> <P> The gradual expansion of education opportunities has had an impressive impact on Malagasy society, most notably in raising the literacy level of the general population . Only 39 percent of the population could be considered literate in 1966, but the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that this number had risen to 50 percent at the beginning of the 1980s and to 64 percent in 2010 . </P> <P> The national education system often has been at the center of political debate . As is the case throughout Africa, education credentials provide one of the few opportunities to obtain employment in a country with a limited private sector, and the distribution of educational resources has continued to be an issue with explosive political ramifications . </P> <P> Historically, the system has been characterized by an unequal distribution of education resources among the regions of the country . Because the central highlands had a long history of formal education beginning in the early nineteenth century, this region had more schools and higher educational standards than the coastal regions . The disparity continued to be a major divisive factor in national life in the years following independence . The Merina and the Betsileo peoples, having better access to schools, inevitably tended to be overrepresented in administration and the professions, both under French colonialism and after independence in 1960 . </P>

What is the education system like in madagascar