Keeping Eyes Open

Two weeks have gone past since the 2017/2018 Academic Year flung open its doors. In the three troublesome regions of the North West, South West and Far North, the dust of uncertainty is yet to completely settle. The atmosphere continues to be charged with fear; fear of the unknown. This state of affairs is, of course, not abnormal considering the pre-school crises that rocked the three regions. The situation in the Far North Region dates back to about 2014 with the resurgence of the Boko Haran insurgence. The escalation of attacks resulted in the closure of schools, some schools hosting internally displaced students, destruction of school infrastructure, barriers to school enrolment and fleeing of education personnel among others.  The situation was different as concerns the North West and South West Regions. The disruption of the academic year resulted from the penetration by politicians, of the strike action organised by teachers who had as aim to enhance the English sub system of Education in Cameroon. This has yielded very negative results with children staying at home for one full academic year and a few barely succeeding to write and pass their end of year examinations.
The new school year has begun albeit timidly. Most people blame the situation on insecurity. This follows acts of vandalism characterised by setting of schools into flames, threats to school authorities as well as parents. Government on its part has been assuring stakeholders of measures taken to ensure the security of schools and school children. And so, since schools resumed, forces of law and order have been stepped up around school establishments. In one of the official statements of assurance, Jean Baptiste Bokam, Secretary of State for Defence in charge of the Gendarmerie, stated inter alia that the number of Gendarmes have been increased to ensure security. Reports from the two regions talk of maximum security around schools. Not only are gendarmes present at the entrance to boarding and day schools, they remain alert in t...