Displaced teachers return home

A total of 600 internally displaced people (IDPs), among them 400 teachers and their families, returned home on Saturday from Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), to comply with a government directive to resume schooling. On 12 May, Education Minister Bevarah Lala announced that that the government had set aside seven trucks, with support from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), to transport teachers and pupils back to their regions. "The whole operation cost 26,000 US dollars, " Sophie Ndanguere, UNICEF's education programme officer, told IRIN on Saturday. She said displaced teachers and pupils in provincial towns and villages would also benefit from the transportation, which is due to continue until Sunday. Schooling in the north of the country has been paralysed since October 2002, when fighters loyal to current CAR leader Francois Bozize invaded the region to fight government forces of President Ange-Felix Patasse. While teachers and pupils in the north fled their homes to escape fighting, teachers in other parts of the country went on strike demanding payment of salary arrears. Following an agreement with the government in April and the payment the month's salaries, teachers resumed work on 2 May, with the exception of the north where they were yet to return home. "In some villages, schools are functioning as usual," Jonas Guezewane, a director at the Education Ministry, told IRIN on Saturday. He said that schools in provincial towns were looted but not destroyed, and that classes would resume shortly, with the support of development partners. "The Cooperation Francaise [French cooperation service] granted last week school stationery worth six million francs CFA [US$ 10,000]," Guezewane said. He added that most of the aid went to schools in areas that were affected by war. Ndanguere said that UNICEF had also provided stationery to facilitate the resumption of school activities across the country. She said that within two weeks, every teacher would receive a box of chalk, notebooks and pens, while pupils would receive notebooks and pens. Although teachers and pupils have started returning to their regions, teachers' union continues to ask the government to improve security nationwide. Appolinaire Kouni, the chairman of the Interfederale des enseignants de centrafrique - an umbrella organisation grouping five teacher unions - told IRIN on Saturday that the teachers' return was encouraged by CAR leader Francois Bozize's appointment of provincial military commanders on Tuesday. "We want the government to send also gendarmes and policemen," Kouni said.