Evaluating University Training: Report Card Says Could Do Better

Development challenges within the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) are enormous. But with the youthful population in the sub-region, many are of the opinion that inputs from such a young population could make the difference. Yet, their contribution can only be effective through the existing channels and enabling environment provided by the governing structures in the various countries that make up CEMAC. Over the years, reform efforts have been undertaken in the university milieu to provide the academia with the necessary tools to change the paradigm.     
Most crucial has been the provision of infrastructure that can improve the standards of living of the people. It may not require any academic savvy to observe the huge gap in terms of insufficient roads, poor communication networks, lack of water, electricity, health care, telecommunication services and the list continues. The university has over the years been perceived as the right forum to harness the talents of the youth to ensure that they serve as transformation agents and bring about the required improvements in the lives of the population. That is certainly what University Rectors from the CEMAC sub-region met in Yaounde from 4-5 March, 2025 in the 10th Ordinary session of their congress to evaluate. It operates within the purview of the ‘Licence-Master-Doctorat’ (LMD) or Bachelors-Masters-Ph. D programme conceived some decades back with a clear vision. The general goal being that each student at the University level in the sub-region should be sure of a job on graduation. Otherwise, the students are expected to be operational upon graduation either by directly fitting into the job market or become job-creators themselves. That is, capable of employing others because they are armed with the right skills and means.     
In order that such a vision does not remain theoretical, several development models have been envisaged within the different countries of the CEMAC bloc.  In Cameroon for instance, the yardstick has been National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (NDS30). It actually came as a revision of the DSCE (2009-2019) which have all been various government measures to help the country become an emergent economy, democratic and united in its diversity by 2035. For the NDS30, the bench marks are to reduce poverty to 25 per cent by 2030, achieve economic growth of an average of 8.1 per cent between 2020-2030 and increase the share of economic manufacturing production to 25 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There are equally concerns like the densification of manufacturing as well as high value-added services and technological catch up, an increase in agricultural productivity following the modernization of the sector.     
These and other programmes ought to find a solid base in the academic system especially the university training programmes where students are expected to graduate and transform the society through various innovative and creative research results. But the National Human Development Report 2022 published by the country in December 2024 does not present the picture of a people moving resolutely towards such lofty goals. Already, technical education which ought to serve as a perfect nursery for the training of self-conscious and equipped individuals capable of driving change upon graduation remains wanting at several levels. The report entitled: What Human Capital for the Structural Transformation of the Cameroonian Economy? rather shows less interest by the population in technical education.  Be it in the English or French Sub-system of education in, statistics for the 2020/2021 academic year show that only 27.8 per cent of the schools at the secondary level were in the technical domain. A figure that is far below the required target of 35 per cent set by the government in the NDS30 document. It means therefore that much still has to be done to provide the human capital that is needed for the country to attain certain development goals. In the absence of a critical mass in the technical education sector, it is difficult for certain development objectives to be arrived at. Even more, the agricultural training programmes, although already few, even attract fewer students. Man...