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PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #2120/01 2481212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051212Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6195
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0755

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 002120 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR ECA, AF/RSA, AF/W AND INR/AA 
AID/W FOR AFR/WA, EGAT/ED AND AFR/SD 
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA 
PARIS PLS PASS TO USMISSION TO UNESCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI ELAB ECON PHUM SG
SUBJECT: RESOLVING SENEGAL'S EDUCATIONAL CRISIS 
 
REF: DAKAR 00681 
 
SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) In the past year, Senegal,s public education system 
has been shaken by faculty and student unrest from the 
university level down.  Though the violence that disrupted 
university campuses in the spring has mostly dissipated, 
current protests by middle and secondary-school teachers have 
had an equally debilitating effect.  Public school teachers 
have been withholding grades from students, leading to a 
showdown with President Abdoulaye Wade that both sides have 
asked the International Labor Organization (ILO) to resolve. 
Meanwhile, those who consider education to be the last, best 
hope for Senegal wonder what the future may hold.  For its 
part, the Mission continues its efforts to work with the 
Ministry of Education and universities to address school 
system weaknesses.  END SUMMARY. 
 
VIOLENCE ON CAMPUSES 
-------------------- 
¶2.  (U) In March, we reported on student protests at Dakar,s 
Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) and Gaston Berger 
University (UGB) in Saint Louis.  The alleged discovery of 
rotten meat in the cafeteria of the UCAD campus sparked the 
violence.  Police responded aggressively to protests in both 
cities, resulting in scores of injured students, including 
one whose leg had to be amputated.  Although the "rotten 
meat" story proved misleading, the incident reflected some 
fundamental, long-standing problems at the university level, 
such as lack of housing and crumbling infrastructure.  The 
highly politicized nature of campus life fueled the protests. 
 President Wade alleged the student movement had been 
"infiltrated" by outside forces. 
 
¶3.  (U) Although students returned to class, campus tumult 
did not completely die down.  On August 10, students again 
faced off with police.  They were protesting that school 
stipends (maintenance allowances) had not been paid for 
several days.  They were told there was no money left to pay 
the allowances.  In a brief replay of the March protests, 
students and police exchanged rocks and tear gas. 
 
THE TEACHERS' TURN TO STRIKE 
---------------------------- 
¶4.  (U) Unrest has spread to other levels of public 
education, where 75 percent of Senegalese students attend 
classes.  Labor unions for public middle and secondary school 
teachers, who earn an average monthly income of 
210,000-220,000 CFA francs (CFAF) (USD 420-440), banned 
together and called for a 48-hour strike in late March to 
voice their concerns.  (NOTE: This salary is significantly 
higher than teachers, salaries in many other Economic 
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries.  END 
NOTE.)  A three-day strike followed in mid-April, and 
Minister of Civil Service, Labor, Employment and Professional 
Organizations Adama Sall offered to plead the teachers' case 
to President Wade, who offered no immediate response.  By 
mid-May, the Unitary Framework of Unions of Middle and 
Secondary School Teachers (CUSEMS) announced it was launching 
a general strike. 
 
¶5.  (U) Mamadou Mbodji, Secretary General of the National 
Union of Teachers of Senegal (SNEMS), quickly took the lead 
and publicly described the reasons for the strike as "grave 
injustices, discrimination, and the unspeakable fate of which 
middle/secondary school teachers are victims."  He said 
teachers felt marginalized and their careers demeaned when 
judges, health workers, and other public servants with the 
same level of education as teachers were given salary 
increases but teachers were not.  SNEMS said all teaching 
would stop for three days and threatened to boycott 
baccalaureate exams if demands for a more equitable housing 
allowance, establishment of a career plan favorable to 
promotions, research stipends, and revision of the fee 
structure paid to teachers for administering baccalaureate 
exams were not met. 
 
¶6.  (U) By the end of June, the GOS offered the unions 45,000 
CFAF (USD 90) monthly housing allowance and 3,000 parcels of 
land on which to build homes -- up from the current 35,000 
CFAF that has been the norm since 1988, but teachers insisted 
on an allowance of 50,000 CFAF (USD 100) and refused to grade 
the baccalaureate exams.  On August 5, the unions consented 
to grade the exams as a "good-will gesture" but will continue 
to withhold grades and refuse to hold classes until their 
 
DAKAR 00002120  002 OF 003 
 
 
demands are met or until the end of the year.  Last week, 
union solidarity cracked with some teachers, especially 
so-called volunteers, agreeing to provide grades. 
 
WADE AND UNIONS THREATEN TO SUE EACH OTHER 
------------------------------------------ 
¶7.  (U) After unions brought middle and secondary school 
systems to a standstill, President Wade agreed to talk on 
July 26.  The two sides failed to reach agreement, and the 
unions announced they would file a complaint against Wade 
before the ILO for breach of the right to negotiate and for 
discriminatory treatment.  Wade said he, in turn, would lodge 
a complaint against them before the ILO and the new UN 
Council on Human Rights, saying "the rights of children had 
been violated."  He also revived the stance taken by the GOS 
during the university riots, saying teachers were motivated 
by politics.  During a union meeting on August 4, 
participants discovered a police Information Bureau spy from 
the police "Information Bureau" in their midst.  According to 
media reports, once discovered, the spy provoked an 
altercation, resulting in the arrest of one union member, 
Farba Sy, who was released shortly thereafter.  Minister of 
Education Moustapha Sourang threatened to suspend salaries of 
striking teachers throughout the month of August. 
 
THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT 
--------------------------- 
¶8.  (SBU) Around the same day in May that SNEMS called for 
general strike, the National Office for Cleaning Up Senegal 
(ONAS) released a report in which it found that 17 percent of 
school bathrooms are not functional due to lack of water, and 
30 percent are poorly maintained.  Many schools completely 
lack running water, school supplies, and adequate 
infrastructure.  Others have trouble attracting and keeping 
teachers on staff for lack of housing and food. 
 
¶9.  (U) The school system is also marked by relatively low 
enrollment and literacy rates, as well as high drop-out 
rates.  According to GOS and UNESCO statistics, with the GOS 
devoting 40 percent of its budget to education, the primary 
school enrollment rate for 2005-2006 was 82.5 percent for the 
public schools; the middle-school enrollment rate was 31.9 
percent; and the secondary-school enrollment rate was 10.9 
percent.  The Ministry of Education estimates that the school 
enrollment rate for 2005-2006 was 95 percent if one includes 
the 600,000 students in &Franco-Arab schools.8  UNESCO 
reports the literacy rate is 46.4 percent, with more literate 
men than women, although a leading Islamic educator claimed 
to us that the literacy rate would be far higher if literacy 
in Arabic were also taken into consideration. 
 
GOVERNMENT SALARY STATISTICS 
---------------------------- 
¶10.  (SBU) One issue that has plagued the educational system 
for the past decade is its two-track system of teachers. 
When the Government first expanded the school system in the 
1990s, it decided to recruit over 500 teachers within a short 
time.  To do so, the GOS created a volunteer corps, which 
agreed to teach in primary schools for half the usual salary. 
 More than 30,000 people volunteered when the program was 
launched.  The intent was to give volunteers a two-year 
contract, renewable for two more years.  After four years, 
they could convert to regular civil service status, and the 
volunteer corps would be phased out.  The program, however, 
was never phased out; and it created a huge disparity in 
salary between volunteers and other teachers.  This led to 
disgruntlement among volunteers.  The quality of education 
suffered.  As seen in the enrollment statistics in paragraph 
8, and as one former Ministry of Education official has 
noted, only 50 percent of primary school students pass the 
test needed to progress to middle school. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The two-tier salary system introduced in many West 
African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU or UEMOA) 
countries after the 1994 CFAF devaluation has created as many 
problems as it has solved.  The disparity contributed to this 
year's strikes.  Ironically, however, the better paid 
teachers are more politicized and more vocal, with several 
deputies, mayors, and presidents of regional councils hailing 
from their ranks.  In fact, the pugnacity of the teachers, 
unions, with annual strikes dating back to 1976, has resulted 
in a significant salary disparity relative to other public 
sector employees; for example, health workers with the same 
level of education now earn 35 percent less than teachers. 
 
COMMENT 
 
DAKAR 00002120  003 OF 003 
 
 
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¶12.  (SBU) The educational system continues to suffer from 
serious weaknesses.  At the primary and secondary levels, 
salaries and school conditions are barely livable.  There is 
not yet enough room in the schools or enough teachers to 
accommodate all those who want to attend school.  Campus 
living conditions are poor, and there is not enough 
employment available for students who graduate.  At least one 
journalist described the crisis as causing Senegalese "to 
tremble" or to emigrate.  President Wade considers education 
to be one of his areas of greatest achievement, and many 
Senegalese view education as the bedrock of a better future 
for themselves and their children.  The crises of this past 
year have shaken the system and made many wonder if there 
really is a better future ahead. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) In spite of the concerns, primary-, middle- and 
secondary-school enrollments are up.  The Minister of 
Education and UCAD Rector Abdou Salam Sall, have visions of 
what the Senegalese educational system should be, and Sall 
notes that the university system is still sufficiently strong 
to attract numerous students from other countries to study 
here.  END COMMENT. 
 
THE MISSION,S EFFORTS 
--------------------- 
¶14.  (U) The U.S. Mission has long labored to address the 
problems.  We persuaded the Ministry of Education to match 
our new assistance dollar for dollar, when devoting 40 
percent of the government budget to education already 
represents a huge investment.  Eighty-five percent of that 
budget pays salaries; scholarships and other assistance 
utilize another 10 percent, leaving just five percent of the 
budget to improve the quality of education.  Our current 
strategy focuses on building middle schools, providing 
scholarships for girls, increasing involvement of communities 
in school management, modernizing the curriculum and teaching 
techniques, providing textbooks, exchanging faculty, 
strengthening and expanding the teaching of English, and 
assisting Koranic schools to improve health conditions and 
build linkages to the communities in which they are located. 
JACOBS