A/HRC/25/73 the other hand, on 1 October 2013 young protesters who were outraged about the high cost of living hoped to hold a demonstration; they were arrested and imprisoned. 71. The Independent Expert reiterates the observations made in his previous report (A/HRC/23/38, para. 22) about the Government’s interference in the way the Convention de la société civile ivoirienne (Ivorian Civil Society Federation) organizes its own affairs. VI. Economic and social rights A. Fragile social and economic situation 72. The Independent Expert was informed of macroeconomic measures taken by the Government and the announcement of a 10 per cent growth rate in 2014.9 The Independent Expert reaffirms his hope that such macroeconomic performance will benefit all the people of Côte d’Ivoire. The cancellation by France of 64 per cent of the foreign debt of Côte d’Ivoire, including 14 per cent as pure debt cancellation and 50 per cent in debt relief, sets an example for the various partners of the country. 73. There is a palpable feeling of social and economic insecurity in the country. The resulting social issues may give rise to political destabilization, a weakening of social cohesion and a slowing down of national reconciliation. The Independent Expert notes that the Government is attempting to address the problems resulting from the rising cost of living by “improving the availability of common consumer goods, increasing domestic production and improving the effectiveness of competition”. B. Right to education 74. Throughout the Ivorian crisis, the country’s schools and universities were transformed into partisan and polarizing political tools and became battlegrounds where the violence resounded in all its forms. Educational institutions, as places symbolic of youth, are thus at the very core of the moral, intellectual and economic revival of Côte d’Ivoire. The Government quite rightly says that it gives high priority to rehabilitating and rebuilding the education system. However, in the light of the serious crisis the country has been through, education must not only transmit knowledge and skills, but also human values, with particular attention to intercultural education and to teaching coexistence. The Government took some steps in the right direction when it decided to give linguistic diversity a place of importance in schools and to take students at Islamic schools as well into account in its administration of the education system. 75. The Minister of Education has noted that the country’s schools face many problems, including excessively large class sizes and a lack of furniture and teachers. Thanks to initiatives taken to train teachers, improve governance in the education system, enrol all children lacking birth certificates and step up the enrolment of young girls, the gross enrolment rate reportedly rose from 80 per cent in 2010 to about 91 per cent in 2013 at the primary and preschool levels and from 32 per cent to 37 per cent at secondary schools. 76. The Independent Expert encourages the authorities to provide human rights training and further training to teachers, so as to ensure the effectiveness and quality of such teaching. 9 16 See the press conference of Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, 5 September 2013, available (in French) at the following address: www.gouv.ci/actualite_1.php?recordID=3808. GE.14-10154