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


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SUMMARY
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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