VZCZCXRO2437
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0905/01 1701444
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181444Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1086
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0238
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000905 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS, SE WILLIAMSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM SCUL SOCI UNSC SU
SUBJECT: NORTH DARFUR KEY ACADEMIC INDICATOR SHARPLY DECLINES 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Tasked with reviewing and monitoring the 
performance of state ministries, the State Legislative Council 
recently discovered a little noticed but sharp decline in the 
percentage of students passing the exam from primary to secondary 
school last year in North Darfur.  Ministry of Education officials 
confirmed the drop from 65% to 50%, citing a shorter than usual 
academic year, poorly trained and under-qualified teaching staff, 
and the ongoing conflict in Darfur as reasons for declining 
educational performance.  The dean of Education at the University of 
El Fasher placed the blame squarely on the central government, 
charging that neglect at the policy level had caused the collapse of 
the educational system.  While the Legislative Council will continue 
to monitor the issue, Ministry of Education officials were not 
overly concerned with last year's poor results, pledging to 
"continue to work towards solutions." End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to the Secretary General of the North Darfur 
Legislative Council, an annual report submitted by the Ministry of 
Education during the council's May-June session contained statistics 
on student performance indicating that in the past academic year 
(2007-2008), the percentage of students who passed the final primary 
school exam, taken in eighth grade, dropped from 65% to 50%.  In a 
separate meeting, Ministry of Education officials confirmed the 
decline, noting that the pass rate for that exam has fluctuated 
between 52% and 60% since the beginning of the Darfur conflict in 
¶2003.  Ministry officials also stated that approximately 77% of the 
child population is enrolled in schools in North Darfur, and that of 
that number, nearly 60% drop out each year (Note: Approximately 
50,000 students start first grade, but only 20,000 enter eighth 
grade annually. End note). 
 
------------------------------------- 
Academic Year Starts Behind Schedule 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Director General (DG) for Education and the Head of 
North Darfur Basic Education told FieldOff that there were many 
reasons for the previous academic year's lackluster results.  The 
most obvious reason, the DG explained, was that children had 
attended only 159 days of school the previous year, instead of the 
210 days mandated by law.  The DG blamed the Council of Ministers in 
Khartoum for the shortfall, as it had recently issued a decree 
stating that all teachers were required to have a Bachelor's degree, 
at a minimum, to continue teaching.  In El Fasher, where many held 
nothing higher than a secondary school diploma, teachers had to 
enroll in the Open University during their break to improve their 
qualifications.  The Ministry of Finance did not issue tuition 
payments to the universityon time, delaying thE teaChers' 
anbolmen4."`Es sukh,(he$eif fl4$'ilQwh |ui cOwQsfS"nn'3ohen5ldQQ*`dGg0}#QjbnQ(w(t`D"$hQ0 g8c)dxvC>cfMac Adq|gWn`/q/QwHQ"od.r68xQ ph+zWiakwnkt`29h6fIhad begun the new academic year 
early.  (Note: Classes began in North Darfur on June 8. End note) 
However, when asked how many class days were scheduled in the 
current academic year, he sheepishly admitted that the official 
change in the work/academic week from six days to five days would 
cause this year to be less than 210 days as well.  To compensate, 
the DG said that the Ministry was working with schools to start 
classes earlier in the morning, and to add additional periods to 
afternoon sessions and Thursdays, which were previously half days. 
 
------------------------------- 
Shortage of Qualified Teachers 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Another reason for the students' poor performance was the 
shortage of qualified teachers, especially in English.  The test 
given at the end of eighth grade did not differ greatly from the 
tests at the end of the other grades, the DG explained.  However, as 
the final grade in primary school, the test would determine whether 
a student was qualified to progress to secondary school (high 
school).  Because of this, there were a few subjects, including 
mathematics, Arabic and English, that were comprehensive, testing 
students' overall knowledge rather than concepts learned 
specifically in eighth grade.  Although they study English from 
fifth grade, the lack of properly trained English teachers hurt the 
students on the comprehensive portion of the exam, the DG claimed. 
The establishment of more schools in rural areas had increased the 
demand for qualified teachers, while the low pay offered by the 
Ministry of Education and the high demand of international 
organizations for bilingual staff had decimated English faculties in 
Darfur.  The Sudan National Center for Languages teaching institute 
 
KHARTOUM 00000905  002 OF 003 
 
 
in El Fasher, which the DG called "an excellent institution," 
provided training for English teachers, but did not have the 
capacity to handle the demand in North Darfur. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The director of the El Fasher branch of the Sudan National 
Center for Languages agreed, noting that his institute did not have 
adequate facilities or funding for teacher training.  The institute 
was supposed to provide a one year course for all primary school 
English teachers in Darfur, the director explained.  The first six 
months of the course was dedicated to basic English language and 
grammar lessons, followed by six months of training on teaching 
English as a foreign language.  Although the center received funding 
from the government, he claimed that the institute's headquarters in 
Khartoum did not disburse those funds to the branch offices.  "I am 
supposed to train all of the teachers here, but they give me no 
budget!" he complained.  He said that he relied on the meager income 
generated by private language lessons to run the facility. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The El Fasher branch of the institute opened in 1999, with 
graduating a first class of 18 teachers.  On June 18, the institute 
will graduate this year's class of 96 teachers, bringing the total 
number of graduates to nearly 350.  While the institute enjoys a 
solid reputation in the academic community, the facilities are "very 
basic - we have no materials beyond blackboards and chalk, and the 
class sizes are too big."  Without more funding from the government, 
the director lamented, the institute's capacity would remain 
limited, and the shortage of qualified English teachers would 
worsen. (Note: The director estimated that there were 800 primary 
schools in North Darfur, with an average of 2 English teachers per 
school, meaning that "by the time we can accommodate some of the 
current batch of teachers, they will be retiring!" End Note) 
 
-------------------------------- 
"Exceptional Conditions of War" 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The DG of Education cited the "exceptional conditions of 
war" that existed in Darfur as yet another reason for poor academic 
performance.  He listed a litany of issues that fell under these 
"conditions," from the requirement to teach conflict resolution and 
tolerance at the expense of basic educational subjects like science, 
to the difficulties of keeping rural schools, especially those in 
rebel controlled areas, safe and operational.  He mentioned that in 
more remote areas, schools were not properly built, didn't have 
adequate seating or textbooks and were taught by volunteers, as they 
could not retain qualified teachers.  In addition, displacement had 
created entire villages of children with no educational records or 
proof of previous academic attendance.  Some children were 
consequently put in the wrong classes (due to age estimates), and 
did not have the background studies to allow them to pass their 
exams. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The dean of the Faculty of Education at El Fasher 
University agreed that the lack of basic infrastructure, exacerbated 
by the conflict in Darfur, had negatively impacted students' 
academic performance.  "Most of the students in Darfur live in huts, 
and many have no electricity.  It is hot, dirty, and at night, dark 
- how can they study?" he asked.  He claimed that the decline in 
educational standards could be seen across the board, not just in 
English, giving examples of university students who could not name 
European countries, and who struggled with proper Arabic grammar. 
"We now find that students entering university don't even know the 
things that students used to know at the intermediate level!" he 
lamented. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
ELF University Dean of Education: "Enough Excuses!" 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The El Fasher University dean said he had heard enough 
excuses from the Ministry of Education for poor student performance, 
squarely laying the blame for educational failures on the central 
government.  "No one at the policy level is dedicated to education. 
Because there are no immediate results from investments in the 
educational system, it has been neglected since even before the 
conflicts began in Sudan," he charged.  Even worse, education 
advocates, both domestic and international, had focused on the lack 
of material resources when the main problem was human resource 
related.  The dean claimed that a primary school teacher earns 
approximately 300 Sudanese pounds (150 USD) per month.  "At this 
rate, if you stay dedicated to teaching, you will starve!" he 
exclaimed.  In bigger cities like Khartoum, there were opportunities 
to make extra money teaching private lessons after hours, but in 
Darfur, there were few outside options for teachers.  As such, many 
had left teaching in pursuit of better salaries.  In his own 
faculty, the dean noted a recent trend away from studying English 
literature and arts, in favor of English grammar and mechanics. 
 
KHARTOUM 00000905  003 OF 003 
 
 
This clearly indicated a shift towards translation, he surmised, a 
sign that students are not focusing on teaching, but rather are 
polishing their technical language skills to find higher paying work 
within the international community. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The dean blamed the government's decision to end the 
boarding school system that largely prevailed in the 1970s and 1980s 
for contributing to the collapse of the education system.  Until 
their closure around 1992, he explained, these schools had shielded 
generations of children from harsh conditions, and had provided 
structure and guidance that is now largely lacking in Darfur 
communities.  Education is not a priority in the community, where 
children are seen as extra laborers, or in some cases, recruited 
into armed movements, he said.  The disappearance of these 
traditional boarding schools, where children from poor families 
found equal educational opportunities and environments, had 
contributed to higher drop out rates, lower overall student 
enrollment rates, and the gradual decline in educational standards. 
"Although there were no computers or internet, the environment in 
the 1970s and 80s was far more conducive to learning than what we 
currently have," he lamented. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Legislative Council to Follow Up, but No Authority 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Legislative Council general assembly referred the 
Ministry of Education's strategy paper to their technical committee 
on education, the Secretary General reported.  The committee asked 
the ministry to submit documentary evidence of their "claims and 
excuses," and will eventually produce a final report with a 
recommendation to the full council.  However, the Legislative 
Council has little power to compel the ministry to undertake any 
particular course of action, and the Secretary General did not 
expect that the council would develop any lasting solutions to the 
problems within the Ministry of Education.  For its part, the 
ministry insisted that last year's academic results were not so 
dramatic, noting that there had been similar problems in the past 
relating to math scores.  At that time, the ministry conducted a 
workshop for math teachers, which resulted in a 20% improvement in 
grades, the DG for Education triumphantly proclaimed.  Therefore he 
was not overly concerned about this year's steep drop, but pledged 
to thoroughly study the results, address any problems that caused 
those results, and implement a strategy to produce solutions.  The 
ministry would continue to work with the Sudan National Center for 
Languages to improve teaching capacity, and "we will see 
improvement, inshallah!" he declared. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Comment: Despite the university dean's comments, many 
Darfuris are indeed deeply concerned about education and about 
securing greater access to learning for their children. Indeed this 
is one of many concerns that, when you talk to them on their own, 
Darfuri Arab leaders and African IDPs, vociferously complain about 
lack of schools and poor education levels, and both blame the 
Khartoum Government. Arabs see it as one of the NCP's many broken 
promises to them while IDPs see it as a conscious effort by the NCP 
to deny future generations of Darfuris of the intellectual capital 
to organize and lead revolts. This is one issue that cuts across 
barriers and unites both Darfur's victims and their victimizers. Any 
political process or peace accord that hopes to succeed in Darfur 
should probably have some sort of educational component as an 
attractive feature. End comment. 
 
FERNANDEZ