Back to School 2016:

Enrolment of under-aged pupils is outlawed

-SW MINEDUB Delegate

By Boris Esono in Buea

SW MINEDUB Delegate Mrs. Motase Dorothy

The Regional Delegate of Basic Education for the South West has issued a strict warning to proprietors of private institutions to stop admitting under-aged pupils in their schools. In an interview she granted the Median Newspaper,  in her office in Buea, on Thursday, 8 September 2016, Mrs. Motase Dorothy said that the age limit for pupils in nursery schools is four (4) years, while that for primary schools is six (6) years.

                She frowned at the fact that managers of private schools continue to admit under-aged kids in their schools, in defiance of the ministerial decision fixing age limits for nursery and primary school pupils.

                “They claim to have day care centres for these children, whereas no such centres exist in the schools. These children are illegally admitted directly to primary/nursery sections,” noted the MINEDUB delegate, who announced that in the coming days she will send out surprise inspection teams on the field to track down defaulters.

                According to the regional delegate, the admission of under-aged children in schools has a negative impact on their lives because these kids are forced to learn things that their ages do not warrant them to know.

                “Kids are not psychologically prepared to start assimilating materials that their little brains cannot handle. When you see some children becoming less intelligent at later stages of their academic life it is because they were forced to assimilate the wrong materials at an early stage,” Mrs. Motase explained, also calling on parents to allow their kids to attain school-going ages before they are sent to school.

                Addressing the issue of security, the MINEDUB delegate advised parents to carry their children to school and back or get someone to do it for them. This is in order to protect the kids from road accidents, kidnapping and sexual violence.

                She urged parents to buy the essential text books especially those for Mathematics, French and English for their kids, and to follow up their kids at home noting that school education is a partnership between the teachers and parents and so parents should not allow it to teachers alone.