VZCZCXRO6660
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHNM #0746 1931339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121339Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2647
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE UNCLAS NIAMEY 000746 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT: FOR AF/W, BACHMAN; ACCRA FOR USAID / WA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS:          
SUBJECT: THE SCOPE OF CORRUPTION AND EDUCATIONAL FAILURE 
BROUGHT HOME BY TEST RESULTS 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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 1.  Less than two weeks after they were administered 
nation-wide, results of the "Brevet d'Etudes du Premier 
Cycle," (BEPC) and "Certificat de Fin d'Etudes du Premier 
Degre" (CFEPD) are starting to trickle in. The preliminary 
results have shocked Nigeriens. While, in a typical year, 
thirty-five to forty percent of students pass the BEPC and 
the CFEPD (respectively, the junior high leaving and entering 
exams) this year only five to ten percent are expected to 
pass. This dramatic drop is largely attributable to the 
Government of Niger's (GON) efforts to crack down on 
corruption in the administration and grading of the exams. 
The results of this year's scholastic tests teach several 
lessons: that corruption is rampant in the Nigerien schools; 
that forceful government intervention can stop it; and, that 
the true extent of students' failure to learn and the 
system's failure to teach has long been masked by the 
tendency of many parents to pay off teachers and exam 
graders. With corruption and its attendant distortions 
controlled, it is evident that Nigerien students and schools 
are failing even more comprehensively than was previously 
assumed. While none of these lessons are easy or pleasant to 
learn, all seem necessary if Nigeriens are to come to terms 
with, and fix, their country's public schools. END SUMMARY 
 
 2.  The GON has been necessarily cagey about the tactics it 
employed to crack down on corruption in last month's exams, 
but some details are apparent. The GON did not provide the 
list of examiners in advance, nor did it inform selected 
examiners and other jury members of their roles until a few 
days before the exams. In addition to reminding examiners of 
their ethical obligations, the GON warned them that strict, 
unannounced controls would be carried out before, during, and 
after the exams. In the event that the GON Examinations' 
Board noticed leaks before the exams, it was prepared to use 
replacement tests without notice at any time during the exam 
period. Given the level of public and high-level government 
attention to issues of fraud and corruption in school exams 
of late, the GON's warning to examiners seems to have hit 
home. 
 
 3.  The Baccalaureate (BAC, or high school diploma for entry 
into university) exam will be administered on June 12 and 13. 
Within a week or two, post will be able to ascertain whether 
its results will follow the same trend as the junior-high 
exams, or if students' and parents' complaints will influence 
examiners to be more lenient. Whatever effect lenient grading 
may have, at least its benefits would accrue equally to all 
students. The practice of bribing examiners to provide 
answers in advance seems to have massively inflated the 
passing rate on the BEPC and the CFEPD. Worse, it shielded 
Nigeriens from a true understanding of the problems faced by 
their under-resourced, over-populated schools. NOTE: Sixty 
percent of Nigerien teachers are contract staff, who often 
lack the training necessary to do their jobs. END NOTE. If 
exam season '06's harsh lessons are properly absorbed by the 
GON, parents, and the civil society, then a chance for true 
educational reform may be at hand. 
ALLEN