C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000339

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: EXAMS FINALLY HELD IN THE NORTH

Classified By: Poloff Phaedra Gwyn for reasons 1.4 b&d

CORRECTED COPY (renumbered paragraphs)

1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On February 27 children in the New Forces
(NF) controlled zone finally started taking the exams that
will allow them to progress to the next level of their
education. Since February 2004 the pro-Gbagbo Minister of
Education had been refusing to allow the exams to be held
until the rebel New Forces (FN) disarmed, citing security
concerns and an insufficient number of teachers to give the
exams. However, under new Prime Minister Banny the issue
became less politicized and the Minister of Education stepped
out of the way. This is a victory for Banny and for the FN,
but ultimately it is a victory for the whole country, an
important step forward toward reconciliation and
reunification. END SUMMARY


2. (SBU) On February 27, children in the rebel-controlled
north and west of Cote d'Ivoire zone began taking the exams
that allow them to progress to the next level of their
education. Exams had last been given in February 2004 for
the 2002-2003 school year.


3. (SBU) This issue dates back to the 2002 failed coup
attempt that resulted in the rebel New Forces (NF) gaining
control of the northern sixty percent of Cote d'Ivoire's
territory. Unable to retake the territory militarily,
President Gbagbo sought to exert pressure on the NF by
announcing that civil servants who remained would be
considered "rebel sympathizers." Doctors, nurses, judges,
and other government workers left the rebel zone by the
thousands. Roughly half of the teachers in the north
returned south and were placed in other schools or continued
to collect their salaries without working. About 6000
teachers stayed in the rebel zone as volunteers, managing as
best they could or being paid as little as ten dollars a
month from villagers or from relatives in the south. Some of
the teachers who remained did so out of sympathy with the
cause of the rebels. Others had no ties to the south and
preferred to remai

n where they came from.


4. (U) In the Ivoirian system, children must pass exams at
three points in their education in order to graduate from
secondary school. The first is after seven years of primary
school, in order to advance up to secondary school.
Secondary school also lasts seven years but is divided into
two cycles. Students must pass a second exam in order to
advance up from the first cycle to the second cycle.
Finally, at the end of the second cycle, they must pass a
third exam, the "Bac," in order to graduate. These exams are
normally held at the end of the school year in June-July.


5. (SBU) All through 2003, Education Minister Amani N'Guessan
Michel, from President Gbagbo's Ivoirian Popular Front (FPI)
party, refused to allow any of these exams to be held in the
north, preventing any children from moving up through the
system. In February 2004, under tremendous pressure from the
international community, especially UNICEF and UNESCO, he
finally allowed exams to be held for the 2002-2003 school
year. However, despite continued international pressure,
until now he refused to allow the exams for 2003-2004 or
2004-2005 to be held. Amani cited security concerns and an
insufficient number of teachers to administer the exams, and
he insisted that the exams could not be held as long as the
rebels remained in control of the north.


6. (SBU) With the designation of Prime Minister Banny in
October 2005, the issue of education in the north became less
politicized. N'Guessan remained as Minister of Education,
but Banny made the resumption of exams in the north one of
his first tasks, and N'Guessan stopped standing in the way.
Finally, between February 27 and March 14, exams were held in
the rebel-controlled zone for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005
school year.


7. (SBU) The process was not without problems. N'Guessan
came up with a list of 171 teachers to travel north and
administer the exams. Citing fears that there would be
cheating, he did not want the same teachers who had been
working with the students in the north to administer the
exams to them. The civil servant teachers were offered about
160 USD to cover the costs of transportation, food, and
lodging for the roughly two weeks of time they would spend in
the north. In the end, however, few of the 171 teachers
showed up to administer the exams for the over 90,000
students present. The UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI),
UNICEF, UNESCO, and the European Union all stepped in to help
the Education Ministry administer the exams and to assure

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their credibility.


8. (SBU) There was another controversy over the grading of
the exams. Again fearing cheating, Minister N'Guessan wanted
the exams to be brought back to Abidjan to be graded. The FN
objected strongly and in the end, four grading centers were
created in their zone, in Man, Korhogo, Bouake, and Odienne.


9. (SBU) Meanwhile back in Abidjan, when it was announced
that the exams would be held, pro-FPI elements protested
loudly that exams should not be allowed until the FN
disarmed. Pro-FPI newspapers ran stories, none of them
substantiated, about teachers being harassed and even killed
in the NF zone. The pro-FPI Student Federation of Cote
d'Ivoire (FESCI) threatened to block the return of any more
teachers to the rebel zone, then they changed tactics and
forced scattered strikes in Abidjan schools. However, once
the exams were held, the furor died down.


10. (C) COMMENT: This was another big success for Banny,
once again delivering on an issue important to people's daily
lives. It was also a victory for the FN, because N'Guessan
relented on his insistence that they disarm before the exams
could be held, and in the end the exams were administered
peacefully. Ultimately, it was a victory for the whole
country, an important step forward toward reconciliation and
reunification. END COMMENT.
Hooks