Central African refugees enrolled in Cameroon schools

The regional delegate of the Cameroon Ministry of Basic Education (Minedub) Hermann Oba Biya complains about the presence of "nearly 15,000 children of central African refugees who have not gone to school since this school year went effective in Cameroon on 8 September.

"The future of these central African refugees who have found asylums in the East of Cameroon are of concern at the highest point", said Hermann Oba Biya. "These children whose age varies from zero to eight years, most have neither birth certificates, nor any official document", assured the regional delegate for Minedub for the East.

"Still others who have never set foot in school, sometimes despite their advanced age, pose a serious problem in class hosting them first time", noted he. According to Hermann Oba Biya, it makes difficult to integrate them into the Cameroon educational system.

Oba Biya also mentioned "the lack of infrastructure to accommodate all these children and calls for the construction of temporary learning spaces in the sites, in order to ensure a suitable basic education to these children in distress". The schooling of these children also requires the recruitment of volunteer teachers. "The Cameroonian Government alone cannot meet the educational needs of these children.

The development partners should also have their hands on the dough ", wishes Hermann Oba Biya. This is not the first time that the central African refugees’ children are experiencing difficulties in returning to school in Cameroon. Last school year, 2013/2014, 7,140 children aged 0 to 18 years, including 2,648 boys and 4,492 girls registered by the UNHCR, had experienced the same difficulties.