Unhappy with the reduction the Francophone government’s reduction of the marking fees from 60 francs last year to 33 CFA francs this year, Anglophone teachers in Yaoundé have said that they will not correct a single script of the Common Entrance Examination that held on Tuesday 16 May 2017.  The expression on the faces, and the angry tone of the conversations held with some of the teachers by our cream of reporters in Yaoundé, speaks volumes about the prevailing situation.

The 2017 session of the Common Entrance has just been completed by the primary school pupils and they are now waiting for the red ball pen users to get the correction job done. However, Cameroon Concord News has learnt from the Anglophone teaching community in Yaoundé that none of these teachers intend to enter the marking centers.

The Southern Cameroonians have refused to make the corrections and are also denouncing the drastic reduction of their expenses envisaged for this task. They had already done so last year, when the Biya Francophone government reduced the correction costs by half, from 120 CFA francs to 60 francs. The teachers were already in the marking centers yesterday Wednesday, May 17, 2017 preparing the marking scheme to start the corrections, when the CPDM Regional Delegate for the Center Region sent by the Minister of Basic Education announced another drastic reduction- a reduction according to which each teacher will receive only 33 CFA francs per corrected script.

This time around, the pill was impossible to swallow for these dedicated Anglophone teachers especially as reductions have become recurring in the cost of marking the Common Entrance Examination. Based on a Prime Minister Order that sets the fee for correction of the Common Entrance at 120 CFA francs, the angry teachers have made it clear that no copy will be marked under these conditions. It is now evident the Southern Cameroons crisis has spilled over into French Cameroun.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has recorded another victory in the battle for Southern Cameroons as West Cameroon students have massively boycotted the 2017 session of the General Certificate of Education Examination which the Francophone government claimed that it all started well yesterday. Cameroon Concord News can now reveal that the whole process has been a complete and total disaster.

Nature also had a hand in the struggle as bees reportedly invaded the Government High School Buea campus leaving several candidates to escape for their lives. A hand full of students answered present in almost all centers despite measures put in place by the Francophone Minister of Secondary Education, Jean Ernest Massena Ngale Bibehe. Cameroon Info.Net recently quoted a journalist serving with Equinoxe, a popular radio station based in Douala who reported that only 10 out of the 31 students showed up for Computer Sciences in Government Bilingual High School, GBHS Tombel in the South West region. The situation was also true for GBHS Bayele in the North West region where only 200 answered present out of over a 1000 expected.

The GCE Board headed by a pro Biya comedian has said it is too early to advance figures but local media reports have all confirmed a massive boycott. Cameroon Concord News also gathered that shocked by the low turnout, the GCE Board attempted to merge some centers for the state television cameras. Some students from Our Lady of Mount Camel in Muea,Buea were left stranded as they discovered on campus that their center had been moved to GBHS Muea.

In the South West region,7 centers hosted 41 schools in Computer Sciences while 8 centers are hosting 48 schools in Food Sciences. In Limbe only two schools, GBHS and GHS Limbe hosted what is now being described as Francophone GCE. No boarding academic establishment was used for the 2017 GCE examinations.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

The Francophone government has made it public that the practical part of the 2017 June session of the General Certificate of Education, GCE, will begin tomorrow Monday May 15, 2017 in all Centers across the country including students who did not register for the examination.

The decision to allow those who did not registered for the 2017 GCE session was taken by the Francophone Secondary Education Minister, Jean Ernest Massena Ngale Bibehe while on a tour of Southern Cameroons territory. The Minister revealed that new centers have been created and those who did not register will be separated from the eligible candidates.

Tight Security has been previewed for Monday in all the centers following assurance that came from Mr. Jean Ernest Massena. This year, the corrupt management of the GCE Board announced that some 129 000 students registered for the exams— 54 000 less than last year’s figures.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has warned parents to keep their children at home at all times and to also boycott the so-called National Day parades coming up on May the 20^th. The newly created military wing of the Southern Cameroons revolution known as the ‘black vipers’ have promised to ruthlessly crush any student whoever dares to go out to take part in this year’s GCE. The Francophone government has assured parents that nothing will happen to their children.

Several candidates who fled the troubled North West and South West regions will be writing in Douala, Bafoussam and Yaoundé.

By Rita Akana with files from Cameroon Info.Net

Secondary Education Minister yesterday instructed special measures to accommodate students who did not register for 2017 examinations. Messages to build hope towards the so-called hitch- free 2017 end-of-course examinations in the North West region was the subject of a frank exchange between the visiting Minister of Secondary Education, Jean Ernest Ngalle Messena Bibehe and CPDM experts in Bamenda on May 10, 2017. The stakes featured security concerns, preparedness of students in some confessional schools, movements of students to and from accommodation Centers and logistics for credible examinations schedule to begin on May 15 with practicals and June 12, 2017 for the written session.

In the region to asses and follow up the state of preparedness, Minister Jean Ernest Ngalle Massena Bibehe reassured all technical collaborators of government’s responsibility to ensure the proper organization and management of the examination in times like this when the social crisis that haunt the North West and South West Regions did not help matters for the 2016/2017 academic year. The visiting Minister, North West Governor, Adolphe Lele Lafrique, the Director of Examinations, GCE and BAC Board authorities took turns to abate worries which include appeals to reinforce security in accommodation schools and concerns about students who, either did not prepare or missed out on registration for the examinations.

It was against this backdrop that in a late hour move, the Minister instructed the Registrar of the GCE Board to give a listening ear with special measures to accommodate such students who show up for examinations. He stressed that all students ready for the examinations will be given a chance and that the government will help matters for movement concerns. Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique reassured that security will be stepped up and stressed the need for stakeholders to be part of special security measures and readily denounce any threats for action.

Minister Jean Ernest Ngalle Massena Bibehe challenged stakeholders to play their roles and revealed special communications measures to enhance vigilance and probity. The stakes are high and the Minister urged all to showcase a high sense of patriotism for the success of the examination in the supreme interest of children’s right to education. It also emerged from the working session which assembled heads of Accommodation Centers, Principals, Educational Secretaries of Confessional and Lay private education sectors , trade union leaders, that some 40,573 candidates registered for the GCE in the North West, 1,651 for BAC and some 12,277 for technical education.

Source: Cameroon Tribune