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RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0317/01 0821657
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 231657Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1127
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 1317
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0286
RUEPGBA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ2/ECJ3/ECJ5//

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000317 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
KINSHASA PASS TO BRAZZAVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO ASEC IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: EXAMS FINALLY HELD IN THE NORTH 
 
 
Classified By: Poloff Phaedra Gwyn for reasons 1.4 b&d 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  On February 27 children in the New 
Forces (NF) controlled zone finally started taking the exams 
that will allow them to progress to the next level of their 
education.  Since February 2004 the pro-Gbagbo Minister of 
Education had been refusing to allow the exams to be held 
until the rebel New Forces (FN) disarmed, citing security 
concerns and an insufficient number of teachers to give the 
exams.  However, under new Prime Minister Banny the issue 
became less politicized and the Minister of Education stepped 
out of the way.  This is a victory for Banny and for the FN, 
but ultimately it is a victory for the whole country, an 
important step forward toward reconciliation and 
reunification.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On February 27, children in the rebel-controlled 
north and west of Cote d'Ivoire zone began taking the exams 
that allow them to progress to the next level of their 
education.  Exams had last been given in February 2004 for 
the 2002-2003 school year. 
 
¶3. (SBU) This issue dates back to the 2002 failed coup 
attempt that resulted in the rebel New Forces (NF) gaining 
control of the northern sixty percent of Cote d'Ivoire's 
territory.   Unable to retake the territory militarily, 
President Gbagbo sought to exert pressure on the NF by 
announcing that civil servants who remained would be 
considered "rebel sympathizers."  Doctors, nurses, judges, 
and other government workers left the rebel zone by the 
thousands.  Roughly half of the teachers in the north 
returned south and were placed in other schools or continued 
to collect their salaries without working.  About 6000 
teachers stayed in the rebel zone as volunteers, managing as 
best they could or being paid as little as ten dollars a 
month from villagers or from relatives in the south.  Some of 
the teachers who remained did so out of sympathy with the 
cause of the rebels.  Others had no ties to the south and 
preferred to remain where they came from. 
 
¶3.  (U) In the Ivoirian system, children must pass exams at 
three points in their education in order to graduate from 
secondary school.  The first is after seven years of primary 
school, in order to advance up to secondary school. 
Secondary school also lasts seven years but is divided into 
two cycles.  Students must pass a second exam in order to 
advance up from the first cycle to the second cycle. 
Finally, at the end of the second cycle, they must pass a 
third exam, the "Bac," in order to graduate.  These exams are 
normally held at the end of the school year in June-July. 
 
¶4. (SBU) All through 2003, Education Minister Amani N'Guessan 
Michel, from President Gbagbo's Ivoirian Popular Front (FPI) 
party, refused to allow any of these exams to be held in the 
north, preventing any children from moving up through the 
system.  In February 2004, under tremendous pressure from the 
international community, especially UNICEF and UNESCO, he 
finally allowed exams to be held for the 2002-2003 school 
year.   However, despite continued international pressure, 
until now he refused to allow the exams for 2003-2004 or 
2004-2005 to be held.  Amani cited security concerns and an 
insufficient number of teachers to administer the exams, and 
he insisted that the exams could not be held as long as the 
rebels remained in control of the north. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) With the designation of Prime Minister Banny in 
October 2005, the issue of education in the north became less 
politicized.  N'Guessan remained as Minister of Education, 
but Banny made the resumption of exams in the north one of 
his first tasks, and N'Guessan stopped standing in the way. 
Finally, between February 27 and March 14, exams were held in 
the rebel-controlled zone for the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 
school year. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The process was not without problems.  N'Guessan 
came up with a list of 171 teachers to travel north and 
administer the exams.  Citing fears that there would be 
cheating, he did not want the same teachers who had been 
working with the students in the north to administer the 
exams to them.  The civil servant teachers were offered about 
160 USD to cover the costs of transportation, food, and 
lodging for the roughly two weeks of time they would spend in 
the north.  In the end, however, few of the 171 teachers 
showed up to administer the exams for the over 90,000 
students present.  The UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI), 
UNICEF, UNESCO, and the European Union all stepped in to help 
the Education Ministry administer the exams and to assure 
their credibility. 
 
ABIDJAN 00000317  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) There was another controversy over the grading of 
the exams.  Again fearing cheating, Minister N'Guessan wanted 
the exams to be brought back to Abidjan to be graded.  The FN 
objected strongly and in the end, four grading centers were 
created in their zone, in Man, Korhogo, Bouake, and Odienne. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Meanwhile back in Abidjan, when it was announced 
that the exams would be held, pro-FPI elements protested 
loudly that exams should not be allowed until the FN 
disarmed.  Pro-FPI newspapers ran stories, none of them 
substantiated, about teachers being harassed and even killed 
in the NF zone.  The pro-FPI Student Federation of Cote 
d'Ivoire (FESCI) threatened to block the return of any more 
teachers to the rebel zone, then they changed tactics and 
forced scattered strikes in Abidjan schools.  However, once 
the exams were held, the furor died down. 
 
¶9. (C) COMMENT:  This was another big success for Banny, once 
again delivering on an issue important to people's daily 
lives.  It was also a victory for the FN, because N'Guessan 
relented on his insistence that they disarm before the exams 
could be held, and in the end the exams were administered 
peacefully.  Ultimately, it was a victory for the whole 
country, an important step forward toward reconciliation and 
reunification.  END COMMENT. 
Hooks