BURKINA FASO: GENDARMERIE SCHOOL GRADUATES FIRST

UNCLAS OUAGADOUGOU 001129 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MCAP MASS PGOV PREL PHUM UV SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: GENDARMERIE SCHOOL GRADUATES FIRST CLASS WITH WOMEN AND INAUGURATES A NEW CURRICULUM. ¶1. SUMMARY: In November the National School for Gendarmerie graduated its first ever class with women. Of the nearly 500 students who were schooled and trained over the last two years, 10 percent of those graduating were women. Another innovation for this class was the lengthening of the training period from one to two years and a diversification of its curriculum now including training on preventing violence against women and children. END SUMMARY. Innovations: Women graduates and a two year curriculum -------------- -------------- - ¶2. On November 30, the National School for Gendarmerie (Ecole Nationale de la Gendarmerie - ENP),based in the Western city of Bobo-Dioulasso, graduated its first ever coed class. The 35th graduating class, baptized "Equity Class", counted among its 499 class graduates 49 women, a first for Burkina Faso. According to the Director of the school, Major Djibril Lale, the female students did not benefit from any preferential treatment and underwent the same training as their male counterparts. He admitted that the women had shone and that the exam results demonstrate their hard work and physical preparedness: women ranked top three in the first to second year exam, and a woman graduated fifth in the final standing. ¶3. During the graduation ceremony Minister of Defense Yero Boly spoke directly to the female gendarmes: "It is not an easy task to be pioneers for a cause. I ask you to serve as role models, and to be a reference point for generations to come." In order to illustrate the changing tide within the military, the graduating class mentor was the Minister for the Promotion of Women Mrs. Celine Yoda. With the inclusion of women in the Gendarmerie school comes the need for new infrastructures such as separate dormitories, shower and latrine facilities, but also the need to hire female medical staff. ¶4. This 35th graduating class not only set itself apart by counting women among its graduates, but also for having inaugurated a new and longer training curriculum. The gendarmes students now undergo 48 months, (previously just 24 months) of rigorous physical and scholastic training. One of the new courses added to the class curriculum is a module on the protection of women and children from violence (Note: As graduates of the ENP, the new gendarmes qualify as NCO's (Sous-officiers de gendarmerie) with the rank of Sergeant --"Grade de marechal des logis".) HANKINS