EDUCATION-CAMEROON:
Schools for Scandal
by Sylvestre Tetchiada, Inter Press Service News Agency

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YAOUNDE, Feb 24 (IPS) - Authorities in Cameroon are engaged in a battle to stem corruption in the education system where, as mathematics teacher Victor Pene describes it, graft "is in the process of institutionalizing itself".

"The future of education in Cameroon is looking bleak," adds Father Jean-Claude Ekobena, Secretary for Education in the Catholic Archdiocese of Yaoundé. "In schools, there is a blatant sale of places for matriculating students, the purchase of diplomas, 'modification' of report cards, the solicitation of favours by teachers - and misappropriation of school fees by teachers."

In 1998 and 1999, Transparency International - a Berlin-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) - gave Cameroon the lowest rating in its annual corruption perceptions index.

By last year, the West African country had improved its standing to a slight extent: it was placed 126th on the list of 133 countries surveyed. However, graft remains an endemic problem in Cameroon - and something the country's education system has not remained immune to, particularly schools that are located in cities.

"The corruption in our schools is just a reflection of what's happening in society in general," observes Jacob Mekoul, a lecturer at the University of Yaoundé.

Marianne Mebenga, President of the Cameroonian League for Education - an NGO - provides a case in point. "Last January, we saw the parent of a student who came to make a complaint. They wanted to register their daughter in a high school. The bursar demanded 100,000 CFA's (192 dollars), while the actual cost of registration was 7,000 CFA's (about 13 dollars). We must organise to denounce this practice that costs parents so dearly."

In an attempt to bring corruption under control, government has set up commissions to monitor student admissions to secondary schools throughout the country. In the past, high school principals were responsible for these admissions.

Committees have also been established to oversee the purchase of school supplies. These groups are made up of people from a variety of backgrounds - including civil society - who do not have links with the national education system.

Earlier this month, Cameroonian President Paul Biya delivered a message to his country's youth in which he acknowledged the scope of corruption in Cameroon's schools.

"I invite you," said Biya to his young audience, "to persist in this difficult battle that we lead against corruption, this evil that is gnawing away at our society and halting our march towards progress."

Nonetheless, certain observers say graft alone cannot be held responsible for all the ills that beset education in Cameroon - and which are prompting teachers to move into other professions.

Alexandre Sokoudjou, a former history professor who turned to business, explains, "I left the 'Ecole normale supérieure' (a tertiary institution) in 1997. Assigned to the north of the country, I went more than eight months without a salary. When the salary finally arrived, it was pathetic."

He adds, "When I began to think about how many years I had spent on the job, I figured that my talents would earn me more somewhere else. That's why I moved into business. And it pays ten times better!"

An advisor to the education ministry who wished to remain anonymous agrees that staff losses are problematic - but takes a less sympathetic view of teachers: "For several years now, the constant strikes by teachers trying to get an increase in salary have hurt the schools. And the laziness, absenteeism, and massive departure of so many teachers creates another problem that needs a solution."

"Since 1994, we've registered at least 600 voluntary departures of secondary school teachers, (and) 1,000 or 2,000 from primary schools...In higher education, more than half the working university professors have chosen to go and 'sell' their knowledge abroad since 1990."

This state of affairs has been fiercely criticised by the opposition Social Democratic Front.

Tazoacha Assongany, Secretary-General of the party, last week noted "the money and the time invested in training teachers, who then choose to put away their chalk for want of something better."

"This captures the level of degeneration in our society," said Assongany.