THE SCOPE OF CORRUPTION AND EDUCATIONAL FAILURE

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000746 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT: FOR AF/W, BACHMAN; ACCRA FOR USAID / WA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KPAO NG SUBJECT: THE SCOPE OF CORRUPTION AND EDUCATIONAL FAILURE BROUGHT HOME BY TEST RESULTS -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. Less than two weeks after they were administered nation-wide, results of the "Brevet d'Etudes du Premier Cycle," (BEPC) and "Certificat de Fin d'Etudes du Premier Degre" (CFEPD) are starting to trickle in. The preliminary results have shocked Nigeriens. While, in a typical year, thirty-five to forty percent of students pass the BEPC and the CFEPD (respectively, the junior high leaving and entering exams) this year only five to ten percent are expected to pass. This dramatic drop is largely attributable to the Government of Niger's (GON) efforts to crack down on corruption in the administration and grading of the exams. The results of this year's scholastic tests teach several lessons: that corruption is rampant in the Nigerien schools; that forceful government intervention can stop it; and, that the true extent of students' failure to learn and the system's failure to teach has long been masked by the tendency of many parents to pay off teachers and exam graders. With corruption and its attendant distortions controlled, it is evident that Nigerien students and schools are failing even more comprehensively than was previously assumed. While none of these lessons are easy or pleasant to learn, all seem necessary if Nigeriens are to come to terms with, and fix, their country's public schools. END SUMMARY ¶2. The GON has been necessarily cagey about the tactics it employed to crack down on corruption in last month's exams, but some details are apparent. The GON did not provide the list of examiners in advance, nor did it inform selected examiners and other jury members of their roles until a few days before the exams. In addition to reminding examiners of their ethical obligations, the GON warned them that strict, unannounced controls would be carried out before, during, and after the exams. In the event that the GON Examinations' Board noticed leaks before the exams, it was prepared to use replacement tests without notice at any time during the exam period. Given the level of public and high-level government attention to issues of fraud and corruption in school exams of late, the GON's warning to examiners seems to have hit home. ¶3. The Baccalaureate (BAC, or high school diploma for entry into university) exam will be administered on June 12 and 13. Within a week or two, post will be able to ascertain whether its results will follow the same trend as the junior-high exams, or if students' and parents' complaints will influence examiners to be more lenient. Whatever effect lenient grading may have, at least its benefits would accrue equally to all students. The practice of bribing examiners to provide answers in advance seems to have massively inflated the passing rate on the BEPC and the CFEPD. Worse, it shielded Nigeriens from a true understanding of the problems faced by their under-resourced, over-populated schools. NOTE: Sixty percent of Nigerien teachers are contract staff, who often lack the training necessary to do their jobs. END NOTE. If exam season '06's harsh lessons are properly absorbed by the GON, parents, and the civil society, then a chance for true educational reform may be at hand. ALLEN