Education in Cameroon

There are fewer girls than boys, mainly due to such things as early marriage, pregnancy, domestic chores, and traditional biases.

Primary school education is free (since 2000), but families must pay for uniforms, book fees, and sometimes even anti-malaria prophylaxis for pupils.

The low school enrolment rate was attributed to cost, with girls' participation further reduced by early marriage, sexual harassment, unwanted pregnancy, domestic responsibilities, and certain socio-cultural biases.

[12] After these findings, Cameroonian government launched a three-years programme to construct and renovate schools, improve teacher competency, and provide instructional materials,[13] which was apparently renewed in 2010.

The General Certificate of Education (GCE), both Ordinary and Advanced levels, are the two most qualifying exams in the Anglophone part of Cameroon.

For the majority of young people this distinction remains academic, because their parents are unable to afford secondary school fees at all.

So far, the GCE advanced level and the Baccalaureate (the French equivalent of academic attainment) are the two main entrance qualifications into institutions of higher learning.

After secondary school, there is the possibility of undertaking "vocational studies," courses aimed to unemployed people under the responsibility of the Ministry of employment.

[17] Early marriage, unplanned pregnancy, domestic chores and socio-cultural biases also contribute to low education rates.

There has been an increasing trend of the smartest students leaving the country in recent years to study abroad and settling there: the so-called "brain drain".

There is, however, a growing trend for the wealthiest and best-educated students to leave the country to study and live abroad, creating a brain drain.

The General Certificate of Education (GCE) both Ordinary and Advanced levels are the two most qualifying exams in the Anglophone part of Cameroon.

[19] So far, the GCE advanced level and the Baccalaureate (the French equivalent of academic attainment) are the two main entrance qualifications into Cameroon's institutions of higher learning.

[19] Researchers from the PanAf Project Cameroon found that female students now use social internet networks more for pedagogical reasons than the traditional thought of searching for boyfriends.

Since this graduates are going out looking for greener pastures or for studies, universities should implement some of those courses learned out there such as digital marketing so as to develop our country even before 2035 that has been spoken of.

Nonetheless, an emerging number of private higher technical institutions of learning like the American Institute of Cameroon AIC, Nacho University, Maaron Business School, Fonab Polytechnic, and many others are beginning to reshape the predominantly general style of education that for over three decades has been the turf of most anglophone students in Cameroon.

[10] St Monica America University Absenteeism of teachers is a reason generally considered to contribute to the poor level of education in the country.

[23] Teachers from both English and French sub-systems, for cultural and historical reasons, still operate as separate in the educational system, and this prevents "teachers from developing a joint pedagogical repertoire about professional matters and to engage in productive debates around new discourses and repertoires such as ICTs in support of teaching," even if as private individuals, they "appear to be open to the challenges of modern Cameroon and multilingual communication in large urban centres.

For so, the Institute of Rural Applied Pedagogy (IRAP) put into place adapted programs and an integrated training that combined general knowledge with work practices (agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry, brick laying, carpentry, etc.).

The project was not a complete failure: some of the initiatives were, in fact, interesting and proved that the approach was somewhat correct, but had to be more precisely studied – possibly by integrating also teachers' and students' experiences, also outside schools.

The Cameroonian system is deeply divided into two sub-systems: even if formally the two have been merged since 40+ years, differences of approach in teachers are more than evident.

"[27] There are some programmes (both public and private) to teach those local languages at school and in other facilities, but there are anyway mixed feelings towards them: they are spoken the most in the ordinary lives of Cameroonians, but there is still a "social stigma" towards those who cannot speak anything other than an indigenous languages; on the contrary, being proficient in English or French is something to be proud of (especially teachers are likely to "show off"), but still pupils are not stimulated in using them at home, because of the low literacy level of their families.

"[29] Schools in the Far North Region, such as Fotokol, have been impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency, which has spilled into border areas from neighboring Nigeria.