Education : Time For The Right Choices

There is hustling and bustling in all the nocks and crannies of Cameroon as the education stakeholders in the basic, secondary and vocational education sectors prepare for the effective start of the 2023/2024 school year throughout the country on September 4, 2023. Public authorities such the competent ministries, administrative authorities, Regional and Local authorities, traditional and religious authorities, members of the of the different communities, parents, pupils and students each in their respective domains are leaving no stone unturned to ensure a hitch-free reopening and the entire school year that will be crowned with successes.
It is important for every stakeholder to effectively contribute for the success of education considering that it is the fundamental right of each individual enshrined in Cameroon’s Constitution and other international instruments that country has signed and ratified. The beginning of each academic year is the time for decision taking with regards to the future of the educational system, its contribution to the socio-economic and political development, meeting the dreams of those who pursue education in the different fields and also the dreams of their sponsors. This entails taking the best and most informed decisions by making the right choices. Different fields of education are like planning seeds in a plantation. The final harvest will only depend on the seed planted as one cannot plant cacao and harvest maize. The choices made at the start of the educational career starting from conception of programmes and curricula by authorities and the field each learner chooses will shape the future of general and personal development.
As the 2023/2024 academic year is about to start for basic and secondary sectors on September 4 and for higher institutions of learning late on, it is important to laud the courage and the rising mobilization of the education stakeholders and populations of the security-crisis affected North West and South West Regions. Since 2016 armed separatists have greatly perturbed schooling in these two regions using barbaric methods like killings, kidnappings, burning down and destruction of schools and private property and using threats of all sorts. The good and motivating thing now is the massive mobilisation over the past years that is yielding perceptible improvement in school attendance and performance in end-of-course certificate examinations. Taking the North West Region as a point of focus, the number of candidates who registered for the different examinations organised by the Cameroon General Certificate of Education (GCE) Board increased from 25,054 in the 2022 session to 27, 107 in the 2023 session. The region scored one of the best overall performance in the 2023 session.
More importantly, traditional authorities and the populations of the North West and South West Regions in particular need to be lauded and encouraged in their resolve to get to the field and ensure the effective school year. The population of Bambui in Tubah Subdivision in North West Region with the backing of administrative and traditional authorities have cleaned the campuses of schools that were no longer functioning due to the crisis and are ready to ensure that they resume and function well. Still in Mezam Division of the North West Region, the traditional ruler of Mankon, Fo Angwafo IV has been holding mobilization meetings with education stakeholders for all schools to be cleaned and learning facilities furnished in his ethnic group.  In Oku where over 700 candidates wrote and scored 100 per cent in the 2023 session of the First School Leaving Certificate, the traditional ruler Fon Ngum IV is leading the effective schooling campaign in the Subdivision using the slogan “Give the child a pen and not a gun.” In the Oku neighbouring Djottin Village in Noni Subdivision the highest ruling traditional secret society, the Kwifon in the market called for effective schools resumption. All communities have to muster courage against fear, send and defend their children in school. This is because school can never be a problem as it offers solutions to many problems witnessed in society.
Consequently, either in parts of the country where there is insecurity or those that have relative calm, it is very important for students and parents/guardians to make the right choices with regard to education careers and futures. Enticing advertisements are being used by school authorities through the various media to woo pupils and students. ...