Henri de Laulanie

Agricultural school

In 1981, de Laulanié founded the agricultural school General Training Course for Rural Adults (Cours de Formation Generale pour Adultes Ruraux – CFGR) at Antsirabe to help educate the young. He had earlier taught agriculture at the Institut National d'Horticulture et de Paysage in Angers, France. After arriving in Madagascar he set to work at devising courses suited to the local farmers, and implemented his vision through CFGR after 19 years of experience, devising a course plan that included physics, chemistry, economics, and sociology. He had acquired experience for such an effort while in Angers, training those released from military service to pass the entrance exam at the university. He founded CFGR to train rural youth and adults to be proud of their peasant identity and rural origins. This was in response to the curriculum in other such schools which he believed to be insensitive to the farmers' difficult situation.

The school now offers correspondence courses for adults who lack the opportunity for an education, CFGR is a member of World Relations Board for Training Farmers.