VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAN #0084/01 0480637
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170637Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3316
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

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