COTE D'IVOIRE: TEACHERS' STRIKE WIDELY IGNORED

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000789 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2016 TAGS: ELAB PREL KPKO IV SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: TEACHERS' STRIKE WIDELY IGNORED REF: A. ABIDJAN 771 ¶B. ABIDJAN 782 Classified By: Poloff Phaedra Gwyn for reasons 1.4 b&d ¶1. (SBU) The strike by elementary and secondary school teachers that was supposed to resume on July 18 (ref A) was widely ignored. While Mamadou Soro, the leader of the teacher,s group calling for the strike, was quoted in the newspapers as saying over 70 percent of teachers boycotted, all other press reports indicated that the strike was a failure. ¶2. (C) Georgette Eboi, the government official in charge of the administration of the nationwide baccalaureate exam, told us on July 20 that the strike had not disrupted the administration of the oral exams because the government was able to quickly replace teachers who did not show up. Eboi added that even on July 19, despite the demonstrations by pro-Gbagbo militias (ref B),many test centers were functioning throughout the south, including 23 out of 56 in one sector of Abidjan. Eboi said that it was difficult to gauge how widely the strike was followed because the government had no way of knowing whether absenteeism was due to the strike or other reasons. ¶3. (C) Eboi saw no way to resolve the teachers' demands because the government does not have the funds to do so. Nevertheless, she said that the strike was not particularly troubling because exams were able to take place, despite some delays. More troubling was the possibility of a disruption to the written baccalaureate exam, scheduled to begin on July ¶25. Students are given the same written exam beginning at the same time throughout the country. If Young Patriots continue protesting the identification process, they could disrupt the exam in certain locations, forcing some administrators to postpone the test and opening the door to cheating. Eboi said they would be monitoring the situation closely and would delay the beginning of the written exams if there were threats of demonstrations on that day. ¶4. (C) Comment: It must come as a relief to Ivoirian families that their children have been able to take the examinations as scheduled. The Prime Minister is also no doubt relieved that this latest potential storm has so far turned out to be just a light shower. End Comment. Hooks