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INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABIDJAN 000012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2017 
TAGS: ECON ELAB IV PGOV KISL USAID
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: EDUCATION IN THE FN-HELD NORTH 
 
REF: ABIDJAN 1314 
 
Classified By: Economic Officer Erfana Dar for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  The efforts to administer the New Forces 
(NF)-held north by the Ministry of Education are viewed by 
the FN and academics in the region with suspicion bordering 
on contempt.  EconOfficers visited Bouake and Korhogo, and 
found that the ongoing public primary school teacher's strike 
(reftel) is a secondary issue to the more central concern 
over which teachers to employ in the FN-held north.  At the 
heart of the dispute is the question of how to integrate 
1,951 volunteer teachers who have worked in the FN-held north 
since 2002 into the government-administered educational 
system.  In recognition of their service since 2002 and as a 
means of compromise, the Minister of Education promised to 
hire the volunteers as fully-employed faculty.  However, he 
then proceeded to send approximately 4000 teachers from the 
government-controlled south, most with the minimal 
certification required, to instead replace the volunteer 
teachers who had been previously promised employment.  The 
teachers sent from the south were accused of being Young 
Patriot spies by both the New Forces (FN) and their allies 
among the volunteer teachers in the FN-held north, and were 
forced to leave.  The current situation has left a vacuum in 
a system already weakened by the ongoing primary school 
strike.  Partially as a result, many parents who are willing 
to send their children to school are turning to a flourishing 
madrassa system, where payment is flexible and schools 
reinforce the Islamic culture which is much more present in 
the FN-held north than the government-controlled south.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Background:  In mid-2006, Minister of National 
Education Michel Amani N,Guessan (FPI) had promised to hire 
1,951 volunteer teachers who had taught in schools in FN-held 
territory and were paid by funds raised by parents of 
students, as teachers were not receiving regular salaries due 
to the split of the nation in 2002.  However, in an 
about-face, he then sent teachers from the 
government-controlled south exclusively; teachers who had 
lesser qualifications (a basic three month training course 
offered in Abidjan).  Despite a Prime Minister-led Council of 
Government held on November 29, the issue was not resolved at 
the time of EconOff's visit in mid-December, and as of today 
is still at an impasse. 
 
¶3.  (U) In EconOff meetings with the New Forces and Ecole 
Pour Tous (and educational group comprised of professors and 
teachers and primarily funded by USG Democracy and Human 
Rights Funds) in the FN-held north, the issue of employment 
for the 1,951 volunteer teachers was stressed even more than 
the volatile issue of the teachers being sent from the south. 
 Both the FN psuedo-Ministry of Education and the Ecole Pour 
Tous viewed this move by the Minister of Education as further 
proof that the Gbagbo government is not keen on actual 
integration, but instead is using the unstable political 
times to further their own political agenda.  According to 
both groups, "the Ministry of Education does not wish to see 
schools function in the (FN-held) north."  They also said 
that during the crisis, the Ministry of Education used its 
authority to continue the war against the FN through 
administrative means by refusing to pay those teachers who 
stayed.  These groups said that while the Minister agreed to 
hire the volunteer teachers and presented himself as willing 
to acknowledge the de-facto system administered since 2002, 
they observed that in reality he wanted no such thing. 
 
¶4.  (U) In Korhogo, the situation falls along slightly 
different lines.  Madame Toure, Director of Education in 
Korhogo for the Ministry of Education, told EconOffs that the 
conflict with the volunteers does not affect Korhogo as much 
as it does Bouake, where the majority of the volunteer 
teachers live and work.  In Korhogo, the main issue is the 
lack of available teachers.  In primary schools there is a 
deficit of 618 teachers; in secondary schools, 184. 
Commenting on the issue of the volunteer teachers, she said 
that any qualified teacher should be welcome anywhere in the 
country.  EconOff asked a teacher introduced by Madame Toure 
during a private meeting why the teachers sent from the 
government-controlled south instead did not come to Korhogo, 
where it was clear they were needed even more than in Bouake, 
and where the issue of the volunteer teachers was not so 
present.  He replied "that makes sense, of course.  But that 
isn't the point anyone is trying to make."  According to the 
source, the administration of the educational system is an 
extension of political will more than a social necessity, and 
demonstrates in reality whether the FN or the Gbagbo 
administration has the power to make decisions. 
 
¶5.  (U) Fragility in the North:  The educational system in 
the FN-held north is more fragile than it is in the 
government-controlled south, primarily due to lack of 
 
ABIDJAN 00000012  002 OF 003 
 
 
resources among the population and in the educational system 
itself.  While the FN have tried to create an infrastructure 
in the last four years, it was not until January 2006 that 
the first exams for secondary school students were held, and 
the higher failure rate indicates that the quality of 
available education for the average student has suffered.  It 
was clear to EconOff that the schools are barely functioning 
with minimal supplies, higher student drop-out rates and 
fewer working teachers.  The strike of the primary public 
school teachers taken together with the demoralizing blow to 
the 1,951 volunteer teachers and the educational system in 
the north at large has taken its toll.  The lack of available 
banks makes being a salaried government employee in the 
FN-held north exceptionally difficult and even dangerous; 
without operating financial institutions, teachers must 
travel several hours south to Yamoussoukro to cash their 
salary checks (septel).  One teacher affiliated with Ecole 
Pour Tous said, "we haven't had a budget in five years.  We 
don't have a treasury.  DDR must happen."  He added after a 
moment, "universities are closed.  Primary schools are 
closed.  If the volunteers quit, everything is lost."  The 
Ecole Pour Tous largely sides with the NF and their judgment 
that sending the teachers from the south was at best an 
attempt to pawn off sub-standard teachers and at worst, an 
attempt to smuggle spies from the government-controlled south 
into the FN-held north. 
 
¶6.  (U) Effects in the Fight against Poverty:  As a result of 
the primary school strike and the ongoing volunteer teachers 
issue and the lack of educational opportunity, many parents 
cannot afford to continue their children's education.  In an 
area where it can be difficult to persuade villagers to let 
their kids attend school instead of helping on the family 
farm, the fight against poverty becomes even more difficult 
when the schools the families reluctantly sent their children 
to are now closed for days on end.  Since 2002, nearly 50 
public primary schools have closed completely.  As one ONUCI 
official succinctly stated "When kids are in school, the 
situation is easier to stabilize." 
 
¶7.  (C) Madrassas:  In both Korhogo and Bouake, the draining 
effects of a badly-administered educational bureaucracy have 
encouraged many parents to send their children to private 
schools, mainly Muslim madrassas that have flourished since 
the 2002 split of the country.  According to the Imam of one 
of the larger madrassas in Korhogo, prior to 2002 there were 
an estimated 17 madrassas.  Now there are over 50 operating 
at primary school level.  Even though these madrassas are not 
recognized by either the FN scholastic system or the Ministry 
of Education (note: some madrassas in the 
government-controlled south are accredited by the Ministry of 
Education), families are increasingly willing to send their 
children to madrassas over public schools.  Some madrassas 
charge each family based on what they can pay depending on 
that family's income.  Payment can be in the form of public 
service as well.  For example, the caretaker of the mosque in 
one madrassa sends his three sons to the madrassa of that 
mosque without cash payment.  Since labor is much more 
available than cash, many families prefer the flexibility 
afforded to them by a madrassa as opposed to a public school. 
 The teachers in these madrassas are from the FN-held north 
themselves and the madrassas operate in a largely Islamic 
environment.  Madrassa teachers are Ivorian and go on to 
receive further education elsewhere in Africa.  EconOff had 
the opportunity to explore several madrassas and found the 
Islamic curriculum to be Sunni of the Al-Eh-Hadith school. 
 
¶8.  (C) According to a variety of sources and the lifestyle 
of the population (for example, classrooms are mixed even 
past the age of seven, the hijab when worn does not cover the 
face), there seemed to be little presence of Wahaabi teaching 
and doctrine.  According a teacher in Korhogo, students leave 
at the secondary school level to pursue Islamic studies 
elsewhere, such as Mali or Mauritania, and return to become 
part of the agrarian or merchant community.  The biggest 
controversy surrounding the growth of the madrassas is the 
criticism that the schools do not teach life-skills.  As 
such, few graduates from these primary schools go on to 
pursue mainstream professions, and increasingly come back 
either as madrassa teachers or merchants.  When asked, imams 
in many mosques visited by EconOff claimed not to be financed 
by foreign governments and are run on independent donations. 
The apparent condition of mosques and schools seemed to 
corroborate this.  While the mosques may have been built with 
foreign assistance at one time, by their appearance and 
condition it is obvious the Imams and communities do not have 
the money to maintain them as they would like. 
 
¶9.  (C) Comment:  The unfortunate combination of the strike 
of primary public school teachers and the Minister of 
Education's move that infuriated the volunteer teachers and 
the NF has dealt a hard blow to an already weakened 
educational system.  School attendance rates have suffered 
 
ABIDJAN 00000012  003 OF 003 
 
 
and educational achievement has slid.  The lack of banking 
institutions in the rebel-held north exacerbates the problem 
as it does all efforts to reintegrate the national 
administration.  The rapid growth of private madrasas is due 
in large measure to the loss of confidence in the educational 
system and lack of resources many Muslim families in the 
north experience on a daily basis.  This issue, which is a 
central concern in the FN-held north but escapes most press 
attention in the government-controlled south, simultaneously 
illustrates the difficulties in reuniting the country and 
presses the need to do exactly that.  End Comment. 
Hooks