Cameroon Government Commits to Equitable and Inclusive Education, Launching Program 101 for Preschool Development
Executive Summary
The Cameroonian government has endorsed the recommendations of Incheon in Korea and has made an international commitment to ´ensure equitable, inclusive, quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all´. Through programme 101: “Development of Preschool”, the government’s objective is to increase the rate of preschooling throughout the entire country. Specifically, the government wants to ensure preschool coverage through the community experience for the benefit of rural populations with the involvement of the Decentralized Territorial Collectivities (CTD), encourage the private sector to develop the formal preschool offer.
Implementation
In rural areas of Cameroon, there are a total of 4,880 public sector teachers. Of this number, civil servants consist of 1,569 individuals, with the majority being women. Contract employees, contractualized and municipal/master teachers, make up the rest of the teacher population. Although these groups of teachers are paid differently, they undergo the same level of training. Training is divided into three levels: BEPC (three years of training), Probationary (two years), and Baccalaureate (one year). At the end of the programme, the Certificate of Pedagogical Aptitude for Nursery and Primary Education (CAPIEMP) is awarded. Upon graduation, every year around 5,000 student teachers are employed. These new teachers participate in internships, consisting of impregnation, tutorship, and responsibilities in observed instruction. Continuous training includes group lessons and problematic themes selected for teachers to address. Finally, after the presentation, the teachers discuss and offer feedback to each other.
Stakeholders and partners involved
Education Reform Support programme (PAREC): Supports preschool development; Provides allowances to animators of Community Preschool Centers. Upgrades 1,000 facilitators annually, focusing on psychology, pedagogy, class organization, and preparation; Conducted parental education sensitization for 1,000 parents in 2021.
UNICEF: Trains facilitators in priority education areas (Far North, North, East, and Adamaoua). Focuses on parental education and psychosocial support. Trains around 300 facilitators per year.
Sight Savers: Trains animators and school teachers in kindergartens regarding inclusive education.
UNESCO: Trains approximately 500 kindergarten teachers in developing scripts for radio and television lessons.
´My online school´ platform: Offers prepared activities for kindergarten students, specifically for first and second grades.
GPE (Global Partnership for Education), CONFEMEN, and UNESCO: Collaborated on the ´ImaginÉcole´ project and produced kindergarten activities on the ´Sukulu´ platform in 2022.
Impact
Preschool teacher advancements: Government-recruited preschool teachers in Cameroon receive performance bonuses every three months, along with technical and research and evaluation bonuses. The state provides teachers with the minimum package for public education, and private education receives financial support from the government.
Increased preschool rate: The government´s efforts have led to a notable increase in the preschool rate, reaching 38.83% in 2020.
Compliance with construction standards: Norms and standards are followed in the construction of nursery schools, with an allocation of 1,004,531,797 frs in 2022 for construction and equipment.
Budget allocation for preschool development: Cameroon has allocated a budget of 13 billion 248 million 433 francs in 2022 for preschool development, underscoring the government´s commitment to early childhood education.
Innovations
Programme 101: Advancing Preschool Development in Cameroon with New Curriculum and Teacher Training
The government has set up a ministerial programme called programme 101 “Preschool Development”. In 2018, a new curriculum was developed with the help of the Islamic Development Bank. The Education Reform Support programme in Cameroon (PAREC) must train, by 2026, all kindergarten teachers in the use of the new curriculum; i.e. approximately 29,000 teachers. With regard to Community Preschool Centers, the government builds and equips 15 of them every year.
Constraints
The cameroon government must provide enough resources for the development of preschool. To do this, the number of teachers should be increased by recruiting to the civil service, building canteens for nutrition, practicing parental education. The lack of a specialized training structure for early childhood educators. All teachers are trained for kindergarten and primary. There is a lack of teachers and infrastructure in rural areas.
Significant Progress in Access and Quality of Early Childhood Education Can Be Achieved Through Investment in Resources and Training
Through investments in infrastructure, teacher training, and financial support, there has been significant progress in improving access to quality early education, ultimately benefiting the nation´s children and ensuring their future success. The impact of the programme is the following: Increased preschooling rate; 38.83% Public schools; 63 teachers; 2,365 Nursery schools; 11,485 Preschool teachers trained; 29,000 Private education support budget: 1,354,175,000 francs- 6% budget allocation for preschool development