Replace all Francophone appointees in HTTTC with Anglophones - Teachers Ass.

Irritated by what they described as the “deliberate destruction of their children” four major Teachers Associations and an NGO; viz; the Cameroon Teachers’ Trade Union, CATTU, Teachers Association of Cameroon TAC, the Presbyterian Education Authority Teachers’ Trade Union, PEATTU, the Catholic Education Workers’ Trade Union-CEWOTU, and Northwest Association of Development Organisations, NWADO have sent a strongly worded memo to President Paul Biya, urging him to, immediately “replace all Francophone appointees in the Higher Teachers’ Technical Training College HTTTC, ‘ENSET’, Bambili in the University of Bamenda, UBa, and elsewhere, otherwise, there will be no peace in the days ahead.

The three-paged memo dated July 1, 2014, captioned “Peace and Social Stability Greatly Threatened”, the trade unions say Anglophone citizens are greatly vexed by what they refer to as the President’s injustices being meted out “on our people” with regards to the training of teachers in the Higher Teachers’ Technical Training College, HTTTC and the Higher Teachers’ Training College, HTTC Bambili of the University of Bamenda.

President Biya is reminded in the memo that the texts he signed creating these two institutions clearly set them out to train teachers for the minority English Sub-system of Education. “Unfortunately, agents of instability, people who do not share your ideals; ideals of peace, justice and social stability, are bent on destabilising our country by keeping our people out of institutions created to cater for specific education needs”, letter reads.

After more than forty years of neglect and abandonment in technical teacher training, the teachers’ trade unions are glad that Biya finally created HTTC (‘ENSET’) Bambili to remedy the situation. “But, to our greatest chagrin, those appointed to manage the school are mostly Francophones who know little or nothing about our sub-system and culture; those recruited to teach in the institution are mostly Francophones and worse still, those recruited for training are mostly Francophones by geographical and cultural definition”.

Investigations carried out by these Teachers’ Trade Unions revealed that Anglophones who applied to teach in the school are systemically turned away with the excuse that there are no vacancies. “When we decried the absence of Anglophones as student teachers in the school, the Vice Chancellor said Anglophones did not register to write, yet our students registered and did write”.

Further investigations, the trade unions, revealed that “lists were brought by some authorities from MINESUP Yaounde”, and imposed on Bambili. Of course, this list did not comprise those who sat for the examination, neither were they Anglophones.

Biya is told that while they were still fighting the injustice in HTTTC, aka ENSET, they discovered in April 2014 that the same ills has attacked HTTC Bambili. More than 80 percent of student teachers sent to the field from ‘ENS’ for teaching practice were Francophones. According to the Teachers Associations, “What this means is that children will soon be taught Geography, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, etc. in French, Pidgin or a mixture of French and English as is the case now in Anglophone technical colleges and technical high schools.

They are uncertain whether Anglophone children, have suddenly become so dull that Francophones will do better than them in examinations written in English. Or do the authorities of the University of Bamenda (UBa) prefer their positions to the future of our community? The authors of this letter, style these people who would rather “protect their positions and jeopardize national peace as agents of destabilisation”. “These are worse than Boko Haram, as their actions are geared towards provoking a national upheaval. Thus, they should be denounced, detested and crushed”.

The Teachers inform Biya that they have constantly been calming brewing tension in students and parents and they think as of now the situation can no longer be kept under control if he doesn’t do the following and fast; but replace all appointees into HTTC Bambili and organize special entrance examinations into the HTTTC Bambili and Kumba for Anglophones, especially those of Northwest and Southwest extraction.

This will enable these Regions to catch up with what they call more than 40years of neglect. Thirdly, candidates should sit in and write an elaborate examination, not multiple choice questions or MCQs. That the Francophones, with only a smattering of the English Language, who have been trained so far in this school to be not posted to teach in colleges of the English sub-system of Education.

The Head of state is advised that, henceforth, competitive examinations into these schools be based solely on the curriculum of the English subsystem of education. That CAP, Probatoire and Baccalaureat Technique which are the preserve of the French subsystem of Education be suppressed from the English subsystem of Education in favour of GCE Technical Examinations organised by the Cameroon GCE Board.

While admonishing Biya to ensure that education administrators strictly follow the letter of the constitution of Cameroon which clearly recognises “our Bi-cultural heritage”.

The associations, finally stated that the 1998 law on the orientation of education in Cameroon which defines the two distinct subsystems of education be respected, with officials appointed for both systems following the organisational chart of the Ministries of Secondary and Basic Education.

The letter has been signed by Wilfred Tassang SG, CATTU, Paul Ninjoh for TAC, Stephen Afuh Kwah, President of Presbyterian Education Authority Trade Union, Micheal Kimfon of the Catholic Teaches Trade Union and Emmanuel Kiven Coordinator of the Northwest Development Organisations, NWADO.