Teachers advocate separate educational
council for Anglophones
By Njodzefe Nestor and Ngong Song Jean
Marie
Some five educational associations in
Cameroon have launched fresh calls for government to create separate
educational councils in Cameroon that will better manage issues of education
from primary to university.
This
was part of the fallouts of a three day workshop organised by the Friedrich
Ebert Stiftung that grouped the 5 associations namely the Association of
Retired Educationist, ARED, Teachers Association of Cameroon, TAC, People Earth
wise, Cameroon Educational Forum and the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union, CATTU
on February 25 to 27 2016 in Bamenda.
The
separate educational councils which will cater for and reflect on the different
sub systems of education in Cameroon according to the pressure associations
will redress the reigning cacophony wherein reflections are done in French and
just translated wrongly in English.
In
a strong worded statement to the press, Wilfred TassangNfor, on behalf of the
five associations noted that they are into nation building hence have been in
constant quest to propose an alternative solution to the way things should be
done in Cameroon especially in providing
quality education to young Cameroonians.
“We
are not opposition to the system. The government is us when it succeeds or
fails, and it is incumbent on us to irk our heads and our hearts to be able to
give government the best way of doing things” lamented Wilfred TassangNfor.
He regretted that over the years, the
francophone system of education has been down playing on the anglo-saxon system
of education.
“The
unions and the Cameroon education forum have concerted and arrived on the
following solution to our education; that two separate systems of education be
created with none superior to the other” revealed the firebrand activist.
As
for the vision of the separate councils, Wilfred TassangNfor said it will be to
nurture, develop and empower the educational system to excellence, producing an
innovative and patriotic citizenry.
As
for the mission he said it will enhance, create and enable the provision and
monitoring of quality education in pre-primary, primary, secondary,
professional and teacher education through the elaboration of quality
curricular, provision of adaptable infrastructure and material encouragement of
scholarship and personnel development.
Tassang
bemoaned the existence of several ministries of education in Cameroon with each
going its own way adding that there is chaos and confusion with curriculum revised
and developed in basic education done without any consideration to what is done
in the secondary and tertiary sectors.
He
added that the need for a super structure like the educational councils was
indispensable as it will bring all these levels of education together to come
up with a curriculum for Cameroon that connects all stages of education.
One
of the major resource person at the 3 day workshop, Lucas TassiNtang, education
consultant, vice chair of the education forum, parent and personnel f the
former ministry of national education. He said his contribution in the workshop
was to give the necessary knowledge and introspection of the kind of education
that existed comparable to that which obtains today.
“To
do advocacy, lobby and to challenge, you need knowledge. I gave them an
overview of the type of education we had up to today and a simple description
of the whole thing reveals that we have done a lot of work without vision, in
make believe statements, in a system that is politically too heavy, where the
centre is too heavy and when the system is too strong, the leadership becomes
overwhelm” added Lucas TassiNtang.
The
pressure associations believe that if the education councils are created, they
will check duplicity in education, transfer issues, accommodation and
electricity difficulties that scare teachers away from rural areas, by
providing fuel allowances from the educational tax that will be introduced
alongside the council.
No comments:
Post a Comment