COTE D'IVOIRE: EXAM RESULTS ANNOUNCED, STRIKING

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000964 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PGOV IV SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: EXAM RESULTS ANNOUNCED, STRIKING TEACHERS BYPASSED REF: ABIDJDAN 927 ¶1. On August 22, 2006, the Ministry of Education announced the results of the baccalaureate exam (required for entry from secondary school to university) held July 25-28 in the government-controlled zones. Out of 119,256 students who took the exam, 48,168 students passed. The Ministry was only able to announce the results because the Minister of Education forwarded the exam papers to teachers in other cities such as Dimbokro, Daloa and Yamassoukro, bypassing teachers who had initially marked the exams but refused to release results until they had received payment for proctoring and grading them (reftel). ¶2. The group of striking teachers who refused to release the exam grades calls itself the Coordination for the Claim and the Revaluation of Teachers, Rights (CRRDE). These teachers are alleging potential fraud by the substitute graders and are demanding that the exam results be cancelled. The CRDDE has also threatened, if it is not paid, to use all its means to block the start of the 2006-2007 academic year. Since sources within other teachers' unions tell us they too support CRRDE's demands, additional teacher labor actions and disruptions seem likely when the new school year begins in October. Hooks