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Cameroon |
EDUCATION
Primary education has been fast increasing. Now attention must be given
to
the quality of education and to secondary school education
Cameroon has had remarkable success as regards the development of primary education –- the number of pupils has tripled since the President of the Republic introduced free primary education in the year 2000 -– but now other problems have arisen. How to improve the level of education? What will all those pupils do, once they have finished their primary education? The first problem is already worrying Ministry for National Education (MINEDUC) planners. The Director of Secondary Education at the Ministry, says the second problem is a challenge which the country will have to face up to soon.
These questions reflect the way in which Cameroon has developed (or rather, not developed) in recent years. Mr Tiani Ngongang Ludovic, Secretary-General of the Infant and Primary School Teachers’ Union, says: «Everything had practically broken down. Consequently, at the beginning of the 1980s, emphasis was put on rehabilitating and developing the schools — but, it must be admitted — without adequate planning».
On average, between 1982 and 1985, education accounted for only 15.6% of government expenditure. But that started to change with Paul Biya’s revival policies. The public budget share of expenditure devoted to education between 1986 and 1990, amounted to 17.8%, and increased appreciably during the following ten years, to eventually reach 34%.
In 1996, a government Commission set up by those in charge of national education, had, as its terms of reference, to examine the present situation of Cameroon’s school system. The Commission recommended that primary education should be free and obligatory. In 1998, the government accepted these recommendations. Two years later, the government formulated a policy of free primary education.
Between 1986 and 1996, the rate of primary school education had increased in a modest way — from 2.2 million to 3.1 million pupils. With the introduction of free primary education in 2000, it rose to 5.3 million. In 2001, the number of pupils reached 6.6 million and the Ministry for National Education expects that it will climb to 6.8 million by the year 2003. The number of registrations for entry into primary schools has far exceeded the most optimistic projections. Mr Tiani says: «Many parents who had often used the economic crisis as an excuse for not previously sending their children to school, now made certain they attended».
An overloaded system
Schools are full to capacity. In fact, they’re bursting at the seams! The average number of pupils in each school, increased from 363 to 616 between 2000 and 2001; but the number of teachers did not increase in the same proportion. The ratio of school children per teacher has risen from 18 children per teacher, to 60 children per teacher. And in the first classes of primary education, it’s more than 100 pupils per teacher.
The situation of a teacher having to teach more than 100 pupils at once in a tent or under a mango tree is only too common, and has given rise to concerns over the quality of education which can be imparted. Although no research has been undertaken to evaluate the impact of free primary education on the quality of education, many people are convinced that standards have dropped. Mrs Jeannette Ekindi who has a son in the state-run school at Yaounde’s administrative centre, says: «This school used to be among the ten best schools of the country. Today, it’s not even among the 50 best schools. Teachers have too many pupils to be able to deal with each one of them».
During the national examinations in 1999 and 2000, MINEDUC stopped evaluating primary schools’ examination results; but independent classifications made by the Media, indicate that private schools are frequently to be found at the top of academic classification lists. In June 2001, during the examinations held at the final year of primary school education, the five best schools were all private schools, according to a list drawn up by L’Educateur. Many anxious well-to-do parents have transferred their children to private schools. Mr. Tiani, however, doesn’t believe there’s been such a drastic deterioration in standards of primary education. He says: «The introduction of free primary education has mainly affected the lower classes. We’ve got to wait until these pupils complete the six years of the primary education cycle to have a complete picture of the impact of free primary education on the quality of education».
The government, however, is not complacent. It is taking measures to gradually improve standards of education. The aim is to reduce the ratio of pupils per teacher, to 80 pupils per teacher in the first two lower classes, and in other classes to an average of 50 pupils per teacher. Part of the savings made by the cancellation of Cameroon’s debt within the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC), will be devoted to recruiting additional teachers. On 10 October 2001, a list of 1,700 primary school teachers recently recruited, was published. Moreover, between the school years 2001/02 and 2002/03, 9,300 classrooms will be built (more than half are a gift of Japan’s cooperation programme with Cameroon) at a cost of 180 million dollars.
Towards secondary education
But even before the first group of pupils receiving free primary education had completed its sixth year, the problem of the transition from primary to secondary education had to be faced. Statistics are disappointing. Of the 211,749 candidates who took part in the year 2000 examinations towards the end of their primary education, only 87,231, or 41.19%, actually went on to secondary school the following year, although 70% had succeeded in their exams. The Director of Secondary Education says: «The fact that our secondary schools can’t take in the growing number pupils finishing primary school, will undermine the whole concept of free primary education, as well as national aims of a more general nature such as eliminating poverty». Fortunately, the government still has time, for the number of pupils who leave primary school will not increase in a spectacular way before 2003.
To meet these challenges, MINEDUC has put the concluding touches to a «strategic plan» for secondary education. Registration for the first four years of secondary education should increase from 149,840 in 1999 to 262,074 pupils in 2003. The Director of Secondary Education, says: «We will manage to cope, by building new schools, by renovating and increasing existing schools, and by using what’s already available in an effective way». There are presently 1,200 secondary schools, including 621 state-run schools. Investment in private secondary schools is encouraged, by offering appropriate technical support and advice, and by financial incentives such as temporary loans, bursaries and tax exemptions.
The problem, however, is not only the limited number of schools but also that every young person in Cameroon should have the opportunity of getting into secondary school. It’s much easier for children living in the capital, Yaounde, than for those living in the countryside. Only 6% of children belonging to the 25% of poorest families in Cameroon, can complete their secondary education. On the other hand, 23% of children belonging to the 25% of the richest families, complete the secondary education programme.
The government is trying to correct such geographical and social imbalances. «Our plan is to have a secondary school in every administrative subdivision and district», says the Director for Planning. Of the 58 regional areas in Cameroon, 15 have been identified as being «the most handicapped in the field of education». In these areas, less than a fifth of the total number of children who could go to school, are actually being educated. These areas will receive close attention: most of the resources allocated to education, will come here, and private investors will be encouraged to invest in these regions.
In 1994, a government Commission found out that registration fees for secondary school were shooting up because of the growing cost of education, and most parents were too poor to pay the fees. The Commission recommended a new scale of registration fees which would establish the principle «so much and no more» vis à vis education costs. Any school wanting to charge more will have to get the go-ahead from parents and the Minister’s permission. Unfortunately, due attention is not always given to this ruling.
In the past, parents had to pay most of the teachers’s salaries. Now, this burden will be reduced because there will be an improvement in the salaries paid to the teachers by the government.
Girls and education
The government is also doing its best to see that more and more girls get into both primary and secondary schools. In August 2001, on the occasion of the launch of the National Strategy for the Education of Girls in Cameroon, Mrs Marie Madeleine Fouda, Minister for Social Affairs, said: «In spite of free primary education, the percentage of girls registered in primary schools is far lower than that of boys».
47% of children registered in primary schools are girls; at secondary level girls are 32%, in the universities — 35%, and 15% in the technical colleges (except, of course, in the technical college for women). In some rural districts of less affluent provinces such as the Eastern Province, Adamaoua Province, the Northern Province and the Far North province, only 35% of children registered in primary schools are girls. This is partly because more girls than boys drop out of school. In primary school, in the first class, the disparity between sexes is only 1.1%; by the time children are in class six, it is 15.7%.
Many schools are now organising programmes to attract girls into school and to encourage them to continue their studies right the way through. The Director of Studies at Douala Primary and Secondary School, explains: «We have a self-development programme which teaches our young people self-knowledge; communications’ skills; sexual behaviour e.g.AIDS, etc. Consequently, most girls complete the entire study programme».
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