Head of State honours 1,216 teachers, 81 distinguished

Teachers in Cameroon joined their counterparts worldwide yesterday October 5, 2015, to commemorate the 21st edition of the World Teachers’ Day on the theme; “Empowering teachers, building sustainable societies.”

Activities in Cameroon were marked by the award of medals of honours to some 1,216 teachers nationwide while 81 were given the Palmes Académiques special medals. The Minister of Basic Education, Youssouf Hadidja Alim, chaired activities in Yaoundé in the presence of several members of government and the diplomatic corps.

After putting into action the instructions of the Head of State by honouring meritorious teachers with medals, the Minister of Basic Education noted that it was a day to recognise the importance of teachers in the development of Cameroon, for without teachers people will not be talking of the professions of journalism, engineering, magistracy and even ministers.

Youssouf Hadidja Alim said while the government is focused on quality and quantity training of teachers for the development of the country, teachers should look for new strategies to improve quality of education in relation to the type of development needed in the country. While highlighting the special measures taken by the government to improve the working conditions of teachers, the Basic Education boss urged teachers to be vigilant in a bid to improve security measures in the country.

In a joint message from the United Nations systems (UNESCO, ILO, UNICEF, and UNDP) and Education International on the occasion, the heads of UN specialised agencies noted that the event coincides with the transition of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

As such, the new global education goal, SDG 4 which is at the heart of the Education 2030 Agenda, calls for “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all”.

It was revealed that realising this goal is critical to achieving all global development targets as such government should redouble efforts to engage in dialogue with teachers and their organisations as well as come up with concrete measures to provide appropriate incentives and working conditions for all teachers.