Universities and other higher institutions of learning have taken the commitment to ensure students and teachers are safe when and if classes resume on June 1.

They took the commitment recent during a video conference bringing together heads of these institutions and chaired by Professor Maurice Aurélien Sosso, President of the Conference of Heads of Universities.

The extraordinary session of the conference enlarged to private institutions of higher learning was aimed at carving out a strategy which will guide the functioning of universities during this period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as evaluate the economic impact of the situation on their various institutions.

At the end of the conference, the participants stressed the need to preserve the health of students as well as the entire university community by respecting the barrier measures put in place by the government to prevent the spread of the virus.

For this to be possible, a regular sanitary control in the main areas on university campuses that attract students, especially around amphitheatres, other lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, restaurants and other university facilities.

Though classes are set to resume on June 1, the head of the various institutions encouraged the continuous use of information and communication technologies for lectures where possible stressing they are the future of leaning in Cameroon.

To solve the issue of overcrowding in lecture halls and respect the social distancing measures, the university heads proposed such classes be divided into groups.

As concerns the financial situation which has been greatly affected by the COVID-19, the universities stressed the need to preserve the academic and financial autonomy during this period in order to enable them seek appropriate solutions to their specific problems.