US embassy cable - 05ABIDJAN1003

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 001003 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, PGOV, ELAB, IV, Ivoirean Govt Arrears 
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE: PRIVATE SCHOOLS TO REOPEN, STUDENTS 
TO TAKE EXAMS 
 
REF: ABIDJAN 944 
 
1. (U) Based on a gentlemen's agreement between the school 
owners and the Minister of Higher Education, Ivoirian private 
schools will reopen on June 20.  The owners have kept the 
schools closed since May 17 to protest the USD 44 million in 
arrears owed them by the government (reftel).  The Ministry 
of Higher Education had offered USD 7 million towards the 
arrears, bringing the total owed down to USD 37 million, but 
the owners demanded USD 24 million to reopen the schools. 
During negotiations the week of June 6, the private school 
owner's association, Conference des Ecoles Superieures et 
Universites Privees "Confesup" (Association of Private Higher 
Education Schools and Universities) and the Minister of 
Higher Education, Fofana Zemogo, reached a compromise.  The 
schools will reopen Monday, June 20, and the government will 
pay USD 16 million, bringing the total arrears down to USD 28 
million. 
 
2. (U) No formal agreement was signed between the parties. 
Each side is acting on a gentlemen's agreement: the 
government has only promised to pay USD 16 million before 
June 20, and the school owners have only promised to open 
their doors on June 20 if that happens. 
 
3. (U) For students, if the agreement is honored, they will 
be able to complete the school year and take their exams. 
Because the Ivoirian system is based on the French model, 
students must pass exams to advance to the next level of 
education.  For private school students, their exam date has 
been pushed back by two weeks to allow them time to prepare. 
Public school students will take their exams as originally 
scheduled, beginning June 27. 
 
4. (U) Students in the North also recently received good 
news.  The Minister of National Education, Michel Amani, 
finally rescinded his December 2004 decree prohibiting school 
administrators from re-entering the north, and thus 
preventing Northern students from taking their final exams. 
International organizations such as the UN, OCHA, and UNICEF, 
criticized the decree as a petty act of revenge that only 
punished the children.  Over the intervening months, despite 
the Minister's decree, NGO,s have kept many northern schools 
open and students have continued to attend classes.  With the 
decree rescinded, the northern students will sit for exams in 
August of this year. 
 
5. (SBU) COMMENT: This recent incident only further 
illustrates the government's cash flow problems.  It is 
becoming a familiar pattern:  the government runs up arrears 
to its citizens, they go on strike, and eventually there is a 
compromise agreement for partial payment and a return to 
work.  Thus far, the government has been fortunate that these 
groups of its citizens have been willing to negotiate. 
Despite their striking and posturing,  Ivoirian workers seem 
to realize they will never be paid in full, and, so far, they 
have been willing to settle for half measures.  This is 
further evidence of the long-term rot that is attacking the 
Ivoirian economy and body politic at all levels.  END 
COMMENT. 
HOOKS