EDUCATION GAINS THREATENED BY CRISIS

UNCLAS ANTANANARIVO 000084

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/E - JLIDDLE
STATE FOR EEB/IFD/ODF - MSIEMER
USAID FOR AFR/EA - AMARCUS
TREASURY FOR FBOYE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID MA
SUBJECT: EDUCATION GAINS THREATENED BY CRISIS

REF: A) 09 ANTANANARIVO 687 B) 09 ANTANANARIVO 775


1. (SBU) Summary: The political crisis of 2009 adversely impacted
the education sector. The suspension of donors' funding and cuts in
the government education budget led to an increase of fees paid by
parents, who already faced difficulties due to reduced incomes. As
a result, enrollment figures, particularly in private schools,
dropped significantly. The payment of transfers from the government
to schools was delayed. Community-recruited teachers in public
schools were not paid in November and December, obliging UNICEF to
ask for USD 15 million of emergency funds to ensure that two million
students continue to go to school this year. The education reform
that was planned to adapt the school system to the economic
environment of the country is on hold due to funding suspensions and
resistance of the HAT, Catholic schools, and the French to proposed
language changes. UNICEF has, however, recently forged a consensus
among the donor community that the reform program must continue;
otherwise, Madagascar will lose the remaining USD 49 million of
donor funds allocated to the World Bank to support the education
system. End summary.

Cash-Strapped Parents Stuck with the Bill
--------------

2. (U) A survey conducted by the UN regarding the impact of the
political crisis in November 2009 concluded that 72 percent of the
parents surveyed had difficulties paying school fees and buying
school supplies during the beginning of the 2009 school year. This
resulted from job losses following the crisis (estimated at more
than 200,000 by the UN) and also from an increase in school fees
(according to 84 percent of the households surveyed). For public
schools, the subscription fees have increased because of a freeze of
donor funds that partially paid community-recruited teachers'
salaries and a delay, as well as a reduction, of the transfers from
the government. Indeed, the budget of the ministry of education was
cut by 20 percent in 2009 and by 23 percent for 2010.

Enrollment Declines
--------------

3. (U) According to the UNICEF Senior Education Officer, enrollment
and attendance in many schools appear to be significantly lower than
a year ago. The decrease in enrollment varies from 5 percent to 35
percent in religious schools. The ministry of education has not yet
estimated the scope of the drop in enrollment at public schools,
because it has not yet collected the number of students enrolled for
the 2009-2010 school year. Based on an informal poll of a sample of
local public primary schools in Tana, enrollment appears to be down
by around 9 percent on average. The largest decrease was recorded
in the "low neighborhoods", where poor families live. Teachers
report that absenteeism for those enrolled has been more frequent
during this school year compared to last year, that more students
are coming to school hungry, and that students are more unruly. The
UN survey also concluded that there was a shift from private schools
to public schools at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year
because parents could no longer afford to pay school fees for
private schools (this school year, 47 percent of the children in the
capital are going to private schools versus 50 percent in 2008).
UNICEF is launching a study this month on the impact of the crisis
on education.

Payment of Government Transfers Delayed
--------------

4. (U) Previously, the government provided students - mainly in the
primary schools - with supplies. This constituted an incentive for
parents to send their children to school. Private schools also
receive grants called "parental fee relief" from the government that
are paid once a year at the beginning of the school year. However
in 2009, the payment of these grants was delayed, and the media
reported that school kits given to students were insufficient and
distributed too late. According to public school directors in
contact with Emboff, many students did not have any school supplies,
increasing the burden on teachers.

Community-recruited Teachers Unpaid
--------------

5. (U) To meet the demand of teachers for the more than four million
primary students enrolled in public schools, the ministry of
education had to recruit 38,000 additional teachers called "FRAM
teachers", 58.7 percent of total primary school teachers, who were
paid 60 percent by the government and 40 percent by donors during
the 2008-2009 school year. In accordance with the GOM's Education
for All reform program, starting from 2009-2010, the government
should pay 80 percent of their salaries, with the remaining 20
percent paid by the donors. However, due to the cut in the ministry
of education's budget as well as the freezing of donor funds, the
ministry was not able to pay the salaries of these
community-recruited teachers in November and December. To avoid the
drop-out of the nearly two million primary school students who would
have been teacher-less, the donor community decided in December 2009
to grant emergency catalytic funds of USD 15 million from the World
Bank Fast Track Initiative to cover the community teachers' salaries
until June 2010 (ref B),provide cash support to schools in ten
regions, and construct 263 classrooms for communities without
schools. UNICEF was designated to manage these funds, with as
little government involvement as possible.

Education Reform on Hold
--------------

6. (SBU) In 2008, the government launched a reform of the education
system (ref A) and requested funding from foreign donors. Through
the Fast Track Initiative (FTI),donors agreed to provide USD 85
million for 2009-2010. [Note: the USG did not contribute to FTI.
End note.] Following the coup in March 2009, disbursements were
suspended. Of the USD 85 million, USD 15 million has been provided
in emergency assistance, USD 21 million has been allocated to other
countries, and the remaining USD 49 million is frozen. A
"circulaire" issued by the HAT minister of education stipulated that
the education reform outlined in law 2008-011 has been suspended.
This reform, which included a proposal of teaching in Malagasy
rather than French in primary schools, was challenged by the
Catholic schools and French-speaking schools in 2008. As the HAT
minister of education was trained and spent most of his professional
career in France, he has a strong bias toward maintaining the French
system (which is becoming increasingly ill-suited to Madagascar's
realities and the emerging realities of international commerce).
Among donors, France has called the education reform into question.
UNICEF has underscored that deviations from the agreed upon GOM
Education for All Program (which includes the education reforms)
would likely put an end to any chances of accessing the remaining
USD 49 million of Fast Track funds. UNICEF's lobbying of the
Francophone community and other donors on this issue appears to have
achieved consensus among donors that the education reform must
continue as planned, albeit at perhaps a slower pace.

Comment: Dismal Outlook
--------------

7. (SBU) Further expected declines in government revenue and
continued suspension of donor funding indicate that the education
system could be in grave danger by June. Although donors are
working on a request for an additional release of emergency Fast
Track funds, those funds will only be granted if the HAT clearly
indicates that it will stick to the established plan for the
education sector, complete overdue payments to an NGO involved in
school construction, and return 15 four wheel drives purchased with
FTI funds. The primary school completion rate increased
dramatically from 2003 to 2007 (from 36 to 60 percent),but those
gains could be reversed if failure to pay teachers leads to massive
student drop-outs later this year. End comment.

MARQUARDT