Cameroon has banned over 100 schools for apparently not meeting requirements set out by the state to continue operating.The minister of Basic Education, Youssouf Hadidja Alim, on Friday published a list of 177 private maternal and primary schools that are proscribed and will not open when the school year begins in September.
The schools affected by the ban lack the required papers and did not comply with procedures put in place for opening and operating in Cameroon.
The Littoral Region is strongly affected by the ban since it is home to more than 115 illegally-operating schools, followed by the Central Region (18), the Western Region (24) and the South-West Region (11).
According to Irma Otu Ng’owona, the deputy director of educational and administrative affairs at the ministry of Basic Education, quoted by the state-owned daily Cameroon Tribune, in some localities schools are sometimes housed in cultural centers, risk-prone areas or rented houses, which are used as classrooms.
While deploring their refusals to comply with the regulations, Irma points to the attitude of several backers of such institutions who merely change the name of their schools in order to continue operating.
*Source: APA
