Fallouts of Anglophone Crisis:

Yaounde takes over control of GCE

-Students troop to Nigeria to sit JAMB, as GCE loses credibility

-Minister publishes partial results of 2017 GCE, as Board Registrar plays second fiddle

-Statistics reveal a telltale drop in number of both registered and successful candidates

He who pays the piper calls the tune: GCE Board Registrar, Humphrey EkemaMonono, literally shoved aside by education minister

Results of the ‘highly controversial’ General Certificate of Education (GCE), June 2017 session, have finally been released. But intriguingly, the release of the results has not ushered in the usual wave of uphoria and popular excitement and scenes of jubilation that was attendant with the release of results of previous exams. 

                A look at the official statistics of the partial results ( ‘A’ levels only) published by the Minister of Secondary Education, reveal an unusual drop both in terms of candidates registered and sat the exams, as well as successful candidates. From 66.52% in 2016 the percentage passed at ‘A’ levels dropped to 35.52% in 2017.

                 For the first time since the creation of the Buea-based GCE Board, it was the Minister of Secondary Education who announced the results of successful candidates and the statistics. Commentators say this is supposed to be the prerogative of the Registrar of the GCE board, by virtue of the law creating the Board, which states unequivocally that “The GCE Board Registrar organizes the GCE Exams…. and publishes the results.”

                Intrigued by the Minister’s action, many observers have hurried to question: “since when did the Minister become the publisher of GCE results; where is the GCE Registrar, Humphrey Monono?”

                Moreover, Radio Buea that has over the years had a privilege of proclaming the results was denied the opportunity this time, as it was the national station that handled the information on the results perhaps for purposes of damage control.

                After listening to the statistics of the results, a teacher who marked some of the scripts wondered whether the results were the true outcome of what he observed at the marking centres.

                “The scripts were horrible. Sometimes out of 100 points, a student would score just 5 points. I have never seen this kind of GCE in my life,” the marker confessed, speculating that the government might have doctored the official statistics perhaps as a desperate fire-fighting measure to douse the tension in Anglophone Cameroon.

                Yet some commentators said it is a pyrrhic victory for the government that succeeded to get the exams written, despite the crisis in the two Anglophone regions.

                But others said the results cannot be credible as o be trusted. “This year’s GCE is only good for candidates sitting for recruitment exams into the public service (concours), it cannot be accepted out of the country.”

                Out in the streets of most towns in Anglophone Cameroon, there was dead silence when the results were released last Friday evening. Even on the morning of Saturday, nobody showed interest in the results.

                Bars and public spots that used to welcome some the successful candidates and their friends and families in the past did not have a field day this time around, as only the routine customers that were seen sipping from their bottles.

                Even youngmen who had made money in the past through the sale of electronic results in some street corners told us that they cannot risk investing their moneys in the results.

                “Nobody seems to be interested in the results; you can see that there has been no observable excitement as it used to be in the past,” observed one of the commentators.

                In Kumba in the South West region, it was business as usual as no persons appeared to be moved by the announcement of the results. The usual telephone calls and congratulatory messages that used to be sent were absent and even newspapers all snubbed the results as non published the results. Readers vowed not to spend a dime acquiring copies of the newspapers if they ever published the results.

                “Even if the newspaper carrying the result is sold at 50 frscfa, I would still not buy a copy,” one commentator vowed.

                It is evident that the ongoing Anglophone crisis has dealt a terrible blow on the exams.

                Many students who boycotted the exams told this newspaper that they have no regrets. Some said they had since gone to neighbouring Nigeria and sat the Joint University Admissions and Matriculation Board Exams commonly called JAMB.

                As the ‘O’ level results are awaited, it is speculated that the statistics of registered and successful candidates would be even more catastrophic and discouraging.