The Minister of Basic Education has ordered the closure of these primary schools that were operating in secret.

With less than a month to go before the start of the new school year, it is time to clean up the schools. The Minister of Basic Education, Professor Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, has signed a decree ordering the closure of 722 clandestine schools across the country.

Most of these schools are located in the Adamawa, Centre, East, Littoral, West and South West regions. According to the minister’s order, these primary schools do not have an operating licence and will not open unless they comply with existing regulations.

For many years now, Cameroon has seen a significant increase in the number of primary and secondary schools operating without authorisation, due to unsuitable premises, poor quality teaching materials, problems with the selection of teachers, false authorisations obtained through corrupt networks, etc.

At the start of the 2022-2023 school year  for instance , there were 326 clandestine primary schools in the country, theoretically closed by administrative decision. Now there are 494. We’ve noticed that some promoters are offending again, although our role is not just punitive,’ explains Léopold Ymga Djamen, regional delegate for basic education in the Littoral region, of which Douala is the capital. Education is a very sensitive issue and should not be left in inexperienced hands.

According to Cameroonian law, in order to obtain the necessary authorisation to open a public school, the promoters – who must have at least a baccalaureate for primary schools and a bachelor’s degree for secondary schools – must provide, among other things, a certificate of ownership of the land on which the school is to be built, foundation studies for the future buildings and a building permit, a list of available teaching materials and proof of available funds equivalent to three months’ staff salaries…