The era of the ongoing crisis has had over 1000 classrooms burnt to the ground, the latest being the Japanese school in Bali, other classrooms used as camps for separatists activities, with a good number of these institutions engulfed in grass.
Enrollment rate witnessed an increase in the 2020/2021 academic year, though within an ongoing armed conflict, the North West Region is still to fully get pupils and students back in the classrooms.
In it inline with clamouring for a smooth and effective Back to School for 2021/2022 academic year, that Northwest Regional Assembly invited stakeholders to brainstorm on the new academic year, finding ways to amend challenges faced by Teachers from different Institutions.
Education, a pearl to the Northwest region has been under attack since the start of the Anglophone crisis turned an armed conflict, untill recently that pupils and students brave the odds to answer present in classrooms to secure for themselves a better future.
The Regional Delegate of Basic Education, Wilfred Wambeng Ndong, gave statistics on the number of students that answered present last year, comparing the said Statistics with the year 2016. He added that "Just about 177 secondary schools of the 558 are operational in the North West Region."
"For basic Education, almost a 100,000 kids cannot be accounted for. Today, they're school dropouts."
The Delegate used the occasion to encourage educational stakeholders who answered present at the Northwest Regional Assembly, asking them to remain steadfast to the challenges faced in the region and serve their pupils and students.
For the confessional sector, the CBC Education secretary, Nyangaji Job decried the late payment of state subvention that delays the payment of salaries for teachers and the running of their schools.
Sema Valentine, Executive Secretary of the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union, CATTU, proposed that free text books, temporal suppression of fees, distribution of books can cause more children to regain lessons in the classroom.
Prof Fru Angwafo III sees Education as a heritage, asking all to protect it, adding that "education cannot be targeted in this 21st century."
"it is time our communities mobilise for school reopening across the region. The points that have been raised here will be adequately reviewed with the Commissioner for Education and as a people, we will ensure that school attendance is better this time around in the region" Prof Fru Angwafo, President of the NW Regional Assembly.
Kidnapping of teachers, students and school proprietors have been recurrent and these are challenges in course of school re-opening.
Some teachers have not taught since 2016, yet schools are recruiting PTA paid teachers. The Regional Delegate of Secondary Education, Ngwang Roland, said there will be massive redeployment of teachers to the schools in need.
Young people, Students have been encouraged to make good use of opportunities, to sharpen their skills, use their talents to empower themselves aside from the formal education recieved.
By Ndefru Melanie
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