The Hidden Cost of Madagascar’s Electricity Crisis on Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 9
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Structural inequality and education: policy, crisis, and representation

Proposal

In Madagascar, one of the five poorest countries globally, daily blackouts lasting up to 12 hours have become routine, especially in the capital Antananarivo. With only 15% of the population having consistent access to electricity, education systems face persistent disruptions that deepen social inequality. This study investigates how chronic electricity shortages affect the learning experiences of university students in Antananarivo and considers the implications for peacebuilding and social cohesion.

Grounded in Amartya Sen’s human capability framework, the study draws on a mixed-methods design that combines 230 student surveys with 10 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2024–2025. Survey data captured patterns in study habits, digital access, and adaptation strategies, while interviews explored the academic, emotional, and material impact of blackouts.

Findings reveal that outages routinely disrupt lectures, exams, and access to digital resources, undermining academic performance and eroding students’ sense of control over their education. Students reported significant stress, food insecurity, and sleep loss linked to rescheduling their daily lives around power availability. While some adopted coping strategies—such as studying by candlelight, using cybercafés, or coordinating with peers—these responses were highly unequal and depended on financial means and social networks. The research highlights how fragile infrastructure, coupled with inflexible institutional practices, exacerbates exclusion: professors often refused to accommodate blackout-related delays, placing disproportionate burdens on already disadvantaged students.

This study contributes to debates within comparative and international education by framing electricity insecurity as a form of structural violence that undermines education’s potential to foster peace and equity. In contexts like Madagascar, where inequality and poverty already threaten social cohesion, fragile infrastructure further divides students along lines of class and geography. At the same time, the study underscores the resilience and solidarity of youth communities who develop collective coping strategies despite systemic neglect.

The findings call for more integrated approaches to peacebuilding in Africa that link educational equity to basic infrastructure. As the African Union’s CESA 16-25 recognizes, education cannot advance reconciliation or nation-building without addressing the material conditions that enable learning. In Madagascar and similar contexts, policies that expand access to reliable, sustainable energy are not only developmental priorities but also essential to ensuring education contributes to social cohesion rather than reproducing exclusion.

By centering student voices, this paper offers an empirical lens into the lived experience of energy poverty in higher education and highlights the urgent need for interventions that bridge the gap between infrastructure, education, and peace.

Author

• Kanto Raveloson, Harvard Grad School of Education