US embassy cable - 04SANAA459

UNCLAS SANAA 000459 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC FOR ANE/MEA MWOOLFORD 
 
NEA/PI FOR RWADHWANI OR NEA/PI CBOURGEOIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT, OTRA, YM 
SUBJECT:  MEPI EDUCATION: DEVELOPING THE "PARTERNSHIP SCHOOLS" 
CONCEPT 
 
REF:  STATE 11812 
 
Below is Post's response to reftel questions: 
 
1. On January 27, 2004, Post met with the Vice Minister of 
Education, Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Habtoor, to discuss the MEPI 
Partnership Schools Initiative. Dr. Habtoor was responsive to the 
Partnership Schools concept and will provide further feedback and 
guidance after consultations within the Ministry of Education 
(MoE). 
 
2. The Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) is committed to 
specific reforms and improvements in basic education (grades 1-9) 
and has already taken several steps towards the development and 
modernization of the education sector. The MoE is implementing its 
Basic Education Development Strategy (BEDS) designed to expand 
access for children, especially girls, in rural areas, improve 
quality, and increase efficiency of education. Examples of on- 
going activities include school construction, school mapping, 
community participation, and teachers' deployment and training. 
Through these policies and reforms, the MoE is hoping to achieve 
at least 95% of the net enrolment in the basic education cycle of 
grades 1-9 by 2015. The donor community (UNICEF, EU, GTZ, WB, 
Dutch Embassy, DFID, WFP, and USAID) has been and must continue to 
provide financial and technical support to the education sector 
for Yemen to meet this lofty goal. 
 
3. The ROYG is executing their education reforms jointly with the 
donor community. The governorates with the most active support in 
education reform are: Taiz, Aden, Hodeidah, and Sana'a. The USG is 
working with the ROYG in five rural, underdeveloped, and 
underserved governorates (Marib, Saada, Al-Jawf, Amran, and 
Shabwa) to execute their basic education strategy. Support for 
education reform in these governorates is strong, especially as 
assistance to these areas has been extremely limited. 
 
4. The national government is responsible for the primary and 
secondary education of students. However, the ROYG is in the midst 
of a decentralization program designed to transfer budgeting and 
planning responsibilities to the governorate, district, and local 
levels. The ROYG spends USD 174 to188 per pupil per year on basic 
education. 
 
5. Though education in Yemen is supposed to be free, there are 
other expenditures that must be covered by families/students, 
which equal approximately USD 10.5 per student per year. These 
expenditures include: registration fees, mid-year exam and end-of- 
year exams, school certificates, and school clothing. (WFP School 
Survey Report Nov, 2002) 
 
6. In some remote areas, families also cover extra expenditures to 
include the cost of water and bread for teachers. These 
expenditures equal approximately USD 4.00 per student per year. 
 
7. In addition, households take turns in providing meals to 
teachers from outside the district, which can be as much as USD 10- 
14 per student per year.