By Sheron Tita
With the aim of promoting the swift resumption of students to school in Fako Division, the Minister of Secondary Education, Prof. Nalova Lyonga, has launched an effective 2024-2025 back to school campaign.
This was during a ceremony which was held on Saturday, 31 August, 2024 in Limbe, under the theme ‘’Guaranteeing the right of every child to education within the context of modernization’’.
Holding under the auspices of the Head of State, His Excellency Paul Biya, the campaign was graced with the presence of some Members of Parliament, administrative and local authorities, parents and beneficiaries drawn from across Fako Division.
The back to school campaign saw the donation of about 10.000 didactic materials consisting of pens, pencils and rulers amongst others to some students who distinguished themselves with excellent academic performances for the year 2023-2024.
The beneficiaries after collecting didactic materials shared their sentiments while expressing words of gratitude to the minister for her commitment in the promotion of education.
“I am very happy receiving these didactic materials and I thank her Excellency for this initiative of giving back to the youths as it will ease the performance of students in their academic ventures. With regards to the unique identifier website, I think it is a big help to parents and students as it will enable the
payment of tuition fees online, offsite,’’ Wanja Faith, a student of GHS Buea remarked.
Students with disabilities also benefited from the largesse of the Minister of Secondary Education. In order to facilitate the learning process, the minister
gifted the students some computers.
Receiving her computer gadget for the best disabled person in Motombolobo, Messong Sonita, a student of GHS Motombolobo, Tiko, equally thanked the minister for this kind gesture.
“This gift will help me in my learning and will help me to do better in my studies this academic year”, she said.
The 2024-2025 academic year kicks off on Monday, 9th of September 2024, nationwide.
According to the Minister of Secondary Education, Prof Nalova Lyonga, this is to ensure that students are well armed with the necessary didactic materials needed for school, thereby promoting academic success.
It should be recalled that in this year’s G.C. E and Baccalaureate Examinations, most students recorded low performances. The minister blamed the poor performances of students on the lack of discipline from students and teachers.
With the aim to track academic records of students, the Ministry of Secondary Education has created a unique identifier number which will be owned by secondary school students in Cameroon. The number will be used to track academic records of students from when they gained admission into and
out of secondary school.
The unique identifier website https://cartescolaire.cm was designed to streamline the payment of school fees and registration. This innovative platform, the Minister said, was conceived in order to make it easier for parents and students to manage the payment of tuition fees and registration.
“This website is a step to modernising our educational system and making it more accessible for everyone,’’ she disclosed.
In the course of the introduction of the unique identifier number, both parents together with their children were empowered on utilizing the newly created platform in the payment of school fees.
On the problem of waste management in major cities in the division particularly Limbe and Buea, Minister Nalova in order to have a clean environment both in and out of the school milieu, announced the institution of a mechanism to fight waste management in the division.
In this light, she announced the disbursement of FCFA 3 million to a plastic company in Limbe (Bobdidy Plastic) to provide plastic in which dirt will be put and taken to dumping sites.
The action christened “clean environment, no dirt, no disease”, according to the minister, is her own significant contribution to improve hygiene and sanitation in Fako. The funding will be directed towards enhancing public sanitation facilities and promoting health awareness in the community.
The students, parents and educational stakeholders were urged to embrace the new school year with optimism and determination.
