Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09OUAGADOUGOU405
2009-05-26 16:28:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Ouagadougou
Cable title:  

BURKINA FASO: DESPITE MASSIVE REFORMS COUNTRY STILL FALLS

Tags:  ECON EAID SCOI PHUM PREL UV 
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R 261628Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4986
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE WASHINGTON DC
CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
UNCLAS OUAGADOUGOU 000405 


AF/W FOR ACOOK

REF: 08 OUAGADOUGOU 235; OUAGADOUGOU 215

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID SCOI PHUM PREL UV
SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: DESPITE MASSIVE REFORMS COUNTRY STILL FALLS
SHORT OF EDUCATION GOALS

UNCLAS OUAGADOUGOU 000405


AF/W FOR ACOOK

REF: 08 OUAGADOUGOU 235; OUAGADOUGOU 215

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID SCOI PHUM PREL UV
SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: DESPITE MASSIVE REFORMS COUNTRY STILL FALLS
SHORT OF EDUCATION GOALS


1. Summary: In 2002, the Government of Burkina Faso (GOBF) and the
donor community initiated a ten-year education development program,
Programme Dcennal de Dveloppement de l'Enseignement de Base
(PDDEB),which focused on construction of rural schools; recruitment
and training of primary school teachers; capacity building for
Ministry of Basic Education (MEBA) administrative staff; and free
textbooks and supplies for schools nationwide. This program was
designed to help Burkina Faso achieve its Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) of universal primary education by 2015. In spite of this
effort, MDG experts have concluded that the literacy rate will not
reach the ten-year plan's 40 percent benchmark for 2009. End
Summary.

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BACKGROUND
--------------


2. In July 2007, the Burkinabe Parliament passed a law intended to
support the ten-year plan by overhauling the entire educational
system from pre-school to university level. This law was designed
to help the nation meet its MDG for 2015 by promoting free basic
education for all Burkinabe children aged 6 to 16. The law also
addressed other aspects of education such as practical and
vocational training; adult literacy; life skills preparation; and
adaptation of curricula to national job market needs. It also
demanded institutional reforms such as improved quality and
efficiency for the education sector. This new 1.8 trillion CFA (3.6
billion USD) program was initiated at the beginning of the 2007-08
school year.


3. Although the new law was favorably received by numerous
stakeholders, many were doubtful about its chances of success. Many
critics felt it was improbable that the GOBF would be able to
mobilize the 1.8 trillion CFA (3.6 billion USD) needed to implement
the reform. Secondly, many detractors doubted that the GOBF could
compel parents to comply with mandatory education statutes.
Thirdly, the country clearly lacked adequate facilities and
qualified teachers capable of accommodating the sudden influx of new
students. Finally, many also feared that widespread corruption and
impunity in public administration had rendered the educational
system incapable of carrying out this ambitious project.

--------------

Progress on the Ground
--------------


4. Phase I of the ten-year plan, which began in 2002, focused on
improvements in basic education and literacy. Phase II, which
started in 2007 will build on Phase I goals on the premise that
these factors have a more pervasive impact on the quality of life
and the level of economic engagement. So far, the GOBF and the
donor community have kept their promise to increase educational
funding from 61 billion FCFA in 2002; to 120 billion FCFA in 2008
(76 percent was supplied by the national budget and 24 percent from
external sources).


5. To date, improvement is slow but noticeable on several fronts.
From 2002 to 2007, enrollment increased by 20.8 percent for
pre-school; 10.7 percent for primary school; 10.1 percent for
secondary school, and 16.4 percent at the university level. More
classrooms have been built, more teachers trained, and more money
funneled into the system. In primary education, the gross admission
rate (access to the first year of school) increased from 78 percent
in 2007 to 85 percent in 2008. The gross enrollment rate (total
number of school-age children in school) gained 9 percentage points,
moving from 72 percent in 2007 to 81 percent in 2008. The school
completion rate gained 4.3 percentage points, moving from 36.4
percent to 40.7 percent during the same period. In 2008, the
textbook per student ratio improved to 1:1 from 2:1 in public
schools; and adult literacy rates increased from 21.8 percent in
2003 to 28.7 percent in 2008.


6. The efficacy of the system, as measured by promotion, repeat and
drop-out rates, also improved slightly. In 2008, for the six-year
primary school program, student promotion rates were 88.5 percent
for the first two years (CP),82.5 percent for the next two years
(CE),and 75 percent for the fifth year (CM1). Repeat rates were
6.8 percent, 11.8 percent and 20.9 percent, respectively. In 2008,
the overall national drop-out rate was around 12 percent although in
some places it was as high as 20 percent. An extreme example was in
a village in the Sahel region's Yaga Province, which recently
reported that all 46 students who enrolled in October 2008 had
deserted the school by December 2008. In comparison, the MCC-funded
Burkinabe Response to Improve Girl's Chances to Succeed (BRIGHT)
program, which paired the construction of 132 schools with
complementary interventions designed to increase girls' enrollment
rates, shows significantly higher success rates. After three years,
these schools boast a 95.2 percent attendance rate and 1.8 percent
dropout rate.


7. Non-formal education and literacy training for adults has also
made progress, moving from 23.2 percent in 2005 to 28.7 percent in

2007. To encourage enrollment in adult literacy programs, the GOBF
engaged in a highly publicized advocacy campaign that would set an
example. In January 2009, several cabinet ministers, with the
Minister of Basic Education leading the way, began learning to read
and write in their local dialects. (Reftel OUAGADOUGOU 215)


8. During the past two years, progress has been made in the fight
against corruption and professional misconduct. Sanctions are
increasingly reported in the press, and the Burkinabe are now more
likely to mobilize in defense of their children's education. One
well-publicized case concerned a rural school parent-teacher
association that wrote to the Minister of Basic Education to
complain that a teacher left his class during school hours to attend
a ceremony at a nearby village. The second high profile story
involved students at a provincial secondary school who succeeded in
having an absentee teacher dismissed. A third case involved a
primary school teacher who was immediately jailed for raping a
student at his school.

--------------
Challenges Remain
--------------


9. Despite marked improvements in many areas, some problems have
proven difficult to overcome. Although MEBA added additional
teachers to the payroll, it is impossible to keep up with growing
school enrollments. From 2007 to 2008, the number of teachers
increased by 8.7 percent but the student-teacher ratio also
increased from an average of 1:54 in 2007 to 1:55 in 2008 (with 1:59
in urban areas). In some parts of the country, huge classes are not
uncommon, sometimes reaching a ratio of 1:150.


10. The most challenging aspect of educational reform is
implementation of the mandatory education policy for children aged 6
to 16. Compulsory education is difficult to enforce because of the
lack of teachers, weak local authority, and extreme poverty that
forces parents to withdraw their school-aged children so they can
contribute to family income. Girls' education is the most
problematic because some parents either force their daughters to
marry at an early age (as young as 11-13 years old) or withdraw them
from school once they reach puberty fearing an unwanted pregnancy.
Religious misconceptions are also a barrier typical of the Sahel
region, where many believe that "good Muslims do not attend
school."


11. In spite of strong support for the ten-year plan, results
continue to be discouraging. Following the conclusion of Phase I in
2007, the GOBF reported that the country had only achieved a
literacy rate of 28.7 percent. In early 2009, a UN assessment of
MDG progress concluded that "despite the perceptible increase that
has been recorded over the past two years, the literacy rate in 2009
will not reach the target of 40 percent as established by the
ten-year plan for the development of basic education."


12. Comment: The implementation of Phase II of the PDDEB is making
progress. However, in terms of financial, human, and physical
constraints (number of classrooms to be built, number of teachers
and administrators to be trained),a school completion rate of 100
percent in 2015 appears to be unrealistic for Burkina Faso. In
order to meet MDG for literacy, additional donor funding will be
required to increase the quality and capacity of MEBA programs. To
overcome the constraints imposed by poverty and tradition, MEBA
programs should attempt to incorporate enrollment incentives, such
as those provided by the BRIGHT schools.

LAEUCHLI