Cameroon recorded 48 attacks on schools between January and June 2024, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports in a statement released on World Humanitarian Day (August 19). “Such instability affects children’s right to education,” lamented the UN, without specifying where these attacks occurred. However, several international reports revealed attacks by separatist armed groups in the crisis-affected regions of the Northwest and Southwest.

One of the most notable attacks occurred in October 2020 when armed separatists targeted the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba, resulting in the deaths of eight students. In February 2022, similar attacks were carried out on the Molyko public primary school and the Catholic college “Queen of the Rosary.”

Since the outbreak of the separatist conflict in 2017, over 700,000 children have been unable to attend school due to the ongoing violence.

The UN also reported 18 attacks on healthcare facilities during the same period.

Source: Sbbc

Catholic teachers have to be peace ambassadors, imparting a culture of peace to learners, Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of Cameroon’s Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda has said.

In his homily during the annual celebration of Teachers Day in his Metropolitan See, Archbishop Nkea urged Catholic teachers to exercise their profession, which he said is characterized by dignity, with commitment.

“The vocation you have answered to be a teacher is a very noble one. It is a profession that has dignity,” he said during the July 20 celebration that was held at St. Joseph Cathedral of Bamenda Archdiocese.

The Cameroonian Catholic Archbishop added, “The dignity of this vocation lies in the fact that  you take responsibility to do what God does; impart knowledge to others and we know that God, who has called you will not abandon you. He will continue to protect you, especially from the violence that we have in our society.”

“That is why I ask all of you to be pro-peace and to hand over a culture of peace to the children whom you teach,” the Archbishop of Bamenda who doubles as the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) said.

He told the Catholic teachers to “see every child sitting in your classroom as your own biological child.”

“You are transmitters of knowledge and therefore transmitters of truth. You are not going to give your own ideas or what you think. You are going to transmit what is true,” he emphasized.

He also underlined the need to foster moral aptitude, saying, “You are transmitters of the doctrine of our church because our schools remain agents of evangelization. You are transmitters of the moral values of the church which are summarized in the 10 Commandments.”

The 58-year-old Catholic Archbishop, who started his Episcopal Ministry in August 2013 as the Coadjutor Bishop of Cameroon’s Mamfe Diocese called upon the Catholic teachers to find fulfilment in their profession and interaction with learners.

“Be happy, joyful, and proud teachers. Be teachers with dignity,” he said.

Archbishop Nkea added, “Let the poverty you have be known only to your pockets. The more you thank God for what he has done, the more God multiplies what you are. The value of what you do can never ever be quantified or calculated in monetary terms.”

He encouraged the Catholic teachers to be sources of inspiration. When people get to see you, he said, let them be “hungry to be Catholic teachers.”

Source: aciafrica

A man who had perhaps the most significant influence on Western political thought and education is the Greek philosopher Plato. As a student of Socrates and later the teacher of Aristotle, he cherished education and believed in its power to change people and create a stable state. Plato believed that all citizens in a society needed to be educated for it to be stable and prosperous. Inspired by the wisdom of Plato, Ahmadou Ahidjo who became Cameroon’s first head of state embarked on that great journey to educate all in his new country.

This heroic and commendable vision of President Ahmadou Ahidjo led to a national policy of sending the brightest minds the country produced to study at the finest universities in the West. Most of these students left Cameroon after A’ Levels in the ’60s, ’80s and 90s with full tuition and accommodation expenses paid for by the government of Cameroon. They studied at University College London, University of Cambridge, Columbia University, Imperial College London, and University of Oxford, Yale, Harvard and many other great institutions of higher learning in the West.

One of the communities that greatly benefited from Ahmadou Ahidjo’s policy of education for a prosperous state was the Manyu. Manyus are renowned for having an inborn aptitude for education and have consistently produced smart and fertile minds. They contributed vast numbers to the scholarship community travelling to the US and UK. A recent survey by this media outlet found that Manyu had more young men and women on the scholarship train than any other constituency in Ahmadou Ahidjo’s United Republic of Cameroon. Manyus will live to enjoy for a very long time due to the vision of one person-the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo.

Today in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Manyu celebrates Dr Ben Tanyi, who studied Mathematics and Statistics and has distinguished himself in the global mining and petroleum industry.

Manyus bow and tremble when the name Dr Henry Tabe is mentioned! A man who navigated from a BSc in Mathematics and Statistical Science into a PhD in Pure Mathematics, which he completed in 18 months at the University College of London. Dr Henry Tabe is a prominent finance expert who can hold his own against anyone in the City of London.

Another recipient of Ahidjo’s scholarship was Ayuk Akoh-Arrey, a Senior Policy Actuarial in London who knows almost all that is about insurance products.

Dr Peter Ashu made the most of his opportunity and obtained a PhD in Physics from the renowned University of Cardiff before establishing himself in the global Information Technology sector.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and formerly of the American University of Nigeria, was another beneficiary who moonlighted himself as a global Information Technology Expert. The Manyu list is long, great and remarkable.

President Ahidjo like many other African leaders was a man with many faults! He was a tricky and canny political operator who tolerated no political opposition to his views and ambition. He single-handedly brought so much benefit to the Cameroonian nation ranging from great infrastructure projects to economic growth and prosperity, building of a welfare state and instilling in the consciousness of Cameroonians that education remains the key to a prosperous society. 

As we approach the centenary of his birth, (born August 1924, Garoua, Cameroon—died Nov. 30, 1989, Cameroon Concord News Group is imploring its readers to celebrate a man who had a vision for a united people and a united nation. This publication is calling on Manyus around the world to raise a glass to this visionary that used the levers of power to set the foundation for the academic take off of Manyu as a constituency and the economic profits that Manyu is enjoying today.

Plato and Ahidjo believed education was the key to eradicating evil and achieving stability in a community and State. They were both correct, for the Manyu community at home and in the diaspora is a better place today because Ahidjo lived.

By Isong Asu

The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Cameroon Concord News Group

In the early morning in Buea, the chief town of Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of the Southwest, 18-year-old Carine and her younger sister, Judith, are getting ready for school. But for these teenagers, it has been a long time coming.

Judith is 15 but is still in primary school. Carine was supposed to be in university, but she just started secondary school. They are among hundreds of thousands of children in the country’s two English-speaking regions of the Northwest and Southwest, who have resumed school after five years.

Carine and Judith had to stay at home since 2017 due to a persistent crisis in the regions, where separatists have been clashing with government forces in a bid to secede from the French-majority Cameroon and create an independent nation they call “Ambazonia”.

“I feel so happy I am able to attend school after five years. This is a dream come true,” Carine said in Buea, asking for her family name and school not to be published.

Judith and Carine fled the locality of Ekona in the region with their family in 2022 amid renewed fighting and relocated to Buea where they enrolled in school last year. Still reeling from her ordeal in the war-torn zone, Judith said she felt especially fortunate to go to school because some of her friends have not been able to study due to the conflict.

“Running up and down from bush to bush was difficult. Now I am focused on my studies to fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor,” said Judith who also asked for her family name not to be mentioned.

Fighting between government forces and armed separatists has made it too dangerous for formal lessons in the Anglophone regions of the Central African nation. Separatists enforced a school boycott in the troubled regions since 2016 to protest against what they described as educational injustices against English-speakers. The school boycott left more than 800,000 children out of school, according to UNICEF.

Now, schools are gradually reopening in safer areas of the regions after Cameroon’s military liberated more than 100 villages and schools from rebel occupation.

“In 2022, we expected 429 secondary schools to reopen, but only 233 functioned. In 2023, almost all the schools reopened, and this year, attendance has improved significantly,” said Hannah Mbua Etonde, chief of secondary education in the Southwest region.

“We are seeing students coming back to school in their numbers; many schools are also gradually reopening. The situation is generally improving,” said Adolph Lele Lafrique, governor of the Northwest region, adding that since the start of the year, there has been little or no attack on teachers, students and schools in the region.

The armed conflict is not over, but some separatist leaders are now encouraging children to return to school, saying a boycott is no longer a weapon of their struggle for independence. Parents here said they’re breathing a sigh of relief after the call for school resumption by the separatist leaders.

Augustine, whose name has been changed for safety reasons, teared up thinking of the bombing that leveled his son’s primary school in Batibo, a locality in the Northwest region but is determined to ensure the eighth-grader continues his studies. “My son’s school is not there anymore, but he has started school here in Buea. The most important thing is for our children to learn. Almost all schools are now functioning, and parents are no longer afraid to send their children to school,” he said.

“My humble plea as a parent to the administration is that security should be guaranteed 100 percent, 24/7 for our kids to go to school,” said Michael Njie whose child started school in 2022 after spending four years at home.

Improving school attendance is a top priority for the government given the war’s long-term social and economic impact on the country, its children, and the willingness of those who fled to return. Across the regions, authorities have been repairing damaged schools and building new ones.

As Cameroon joins the rest of the world to celebrate International Day for Education, officials have been visiting schools in the troubled regions to assure parents everything is under control and that their children will be safe.

“We just want to learn. Let them keep the guns away from schools and students,” Judith said.

By Haggai Fung Achuo

Renowned Cameroon Anglophone history teacher Mathias Kimbeng has died in Limbe the chief city in Fako Division.

A post on social media, which has hundreds of his former students said: Mathias Kimbeng sociable, philanthropic, sympathetic, enterprising, brilliant and God fearing. Boooh Kims RIP

Reports said he died today shortly after conducting his normal daily routines, but the cause of his death has not been made public.

By Rita Akana in Limbe

This item is still developing

Dóchas, meaning Hope, is a collection of poems about the beauty, suffering and restoration of humanity. The first chapter focuses on the beauty and good things that exist in the world. The second chapter speaks of the suffering that humanity experiences and the third is on the restoration that comes after.

The event was a huge success and was graced with the presence of prominent Cameroonian and African dignitaries including important guests such as the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group, the Right Hon. Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai and his beautiful wife Odette Agbaw-Ebai, the renowned property developer Chief Tang Welensky, members of the Open Arms Church Newbridge, one of the lead Pentecostal voices in Ireland Paul Adenle and Eric Njolai a senior Anglophone Cameroon elite to mention a few.

An opening prayer was said and the author, Tina Kembo stepped forward and gave a brilliant remark about the background of the book and expressed gratitude for the support and participation of everyone present. She noted that “to everyone in a dark place, facing a difficult time, experiencing loss, grief, pain, sickness, there is hope for the future. There are good things and people in our world but evil and suffering exists too.”

Afterwards, Tina read out excerpts from the book and the book was launched by her wonderful parents, Anastine Kembo and Edwin Njeta with her dad moonlighting as her Chief Launcher. Her dad described her work as a well-written book with potential for great impact.

Tina Kembo was born in Bamenda, the chief city in the North West region of Cameroon in 1997.

By Njaringi Agbaw-Ebai in Newbridge, Ireland

A Catholic priest identified by our Mamfe correspondent as Rev. Father Elvis Mbangsi and three Roman Catholic Mission teachers have reportedly sustained gunshot wounds in an attack on CS Kembong in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu.

Unconfirmed reports say the wounded are currently receiving treatment in Mamfe.

Cameroon Concord News understands one of the teachers of the school who managed to escape from the attack also sustained gunshot wounds and is being treated in a health centre in Kembong.

Ever since the Biya Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé launched the 2023 back to school in Southern Cameroons, Ambazonia restoration forces opposed to directives from Yaoundé have overrun successive Southern Cameroons academic establishments.

Two head teachers were killed in the North West region while armed assailants stormed a school in Kumba and killed a female student.

By Kingsley Betek in Mamfe

The Registrar of the General Certificate of Education Board, Dang Akuh Dominic has died, the board has said.

The 64-year-old Southern Cameroons elite, who hailed from Menchum Division in the North West Rergion, also served as Inspector General in charge of Bilingualism in the Ministry of Secondary Education, forging a reputation as an outspoken Anglo-Saxon man.

Dang Akuh Dominic died at the Mount Mary hospital in Buea on Monday, an official said. He was also credited with helping to secure and maintain the Anglo-Saxon standard of the GCE amid the war in Southern Cameroons.

The late Dang was appointed Registrar of the GCE Board on January 31, 2018 replacing the well-fed Monono Ekema Humphrey who had been in office since 2006.

By Rita Akana

Barely two weeks to the start of the 2023/2024 academic year in Cameroon, Government Bilingual High School (GBHS) Bafia in the Mbam and Inoubou division of the Centre region is showing no sign of a possible resumption.

Classrooms are roofless and dirty, left at the mercy of the elements. “Will our children be registered to study in classrooms without roofs, benches, good walls and floors? Or will they be sent to study in a different institution? I can’t understand that few weeks to resumption, the school is this unfriendly and more to that in the rainy season,” a worried parent wonders.

It has been over five months since the school has been in its current state yet no effort is being made to renovate the structure even as school resumption is fast approaching.

“This is how the school has been. Candidates wrote the end of year official examinations in congested halls in this sub centre,” a parent said.

Parents who visited the school for registration formalities were in shock this August 22. A local said “no one, be it from the Parents Teachers Association, government, municipal council or the community is showing concern or interest to help the school. It is really a sad situation.”

While waiting for school to effectively resume on September 4, parents in Bafia are in a state of confusion and waiting for local authorities to do something to ameliorate the physical state of GBHS Bafia.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The inspector of Basic Education for Manyu Division, Arreyngang Harman Taku, has called on Manyu sons and daughters at home and abroad to come to the assistance of young IDPs who will soon be returning to school, unfortunately without the necessary school supplies due to the prevailing economic hardship.

Mr. Arreyngang made the call in a touching letter on Tuesday, August 16, 2023, urging those who have the means to reach out to some 10,000 pupils who will be struggling in the coming academic year due to economic hardship.

The pupils, most of whom are from rural areas of Manyu Division where schools have been shut down due to the Southern Cameroons crisis which has been going on for over 6 years, will be facing tough challenges as the economic and financial situation gets more complicated by the day.

Below is the letter from the Manyu Basic Education Inspector.

Greetings to all the internal and external elites of Manyu Division, all your ranks and titles duly acknowledged.

The 2023/2024 school year will start in under two weeks. Mamfe boasts of above 10,000 children going to school, most of them IDPs from all over manyu Division.

It is not easy for a large number of these children to meet their school needs in terms of didactic materials such as exercise books, pens, pencils, school bags etc.

Your generous donation of some of these materials to these unfortunate children will put a smile on their faces as well as make teaching and learning less cumbersome for their teachers.

I therefore make this fervent appeal to all of you of good heart to do something for these children.

As the Inspector of Basic Education for Mamfe, my office is open to receive from you, whatever you offer and I would acknowledge it.

Thanks for your usual support.

Harman taku Arreyngang,

lBE mamfe

Reported for Cameroon Concord News Group by Ewang Miriam Metchane