Monday September 4 was back to school day in Cameroon. But in Bamenda, capital of the English-speaking North West region, the streets once again remained desperately empty. ” I’m at home. Everyone is at home. Insecurity is still high in the region, whispers Semma Valentine, the executive general secretary of the Cameroon Teachers’ Trade Union, one of the most influential teachers’ unions, on the phone. This Monday was a “ghost town” day and almost everyone respected it. The situation has not changed here. »
Since 2017, the North-West and the South-West, the two predominantly English-speaking regions, have been plunged into armed conflict between separatists and the Cameroonian army. Caught between the two camps, civilians pay the high price. According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), more than 6,000 people have been killed since the start of the war and more than 700,000 others have taken refuge in French-speaking regions and neighboring Nigeria.
“Separatists also frequently target teachers, students and schools, accusing them of supporting centrally-mandated education,” Amnesty International noted in a June report. In fact, the crisis began in 2016 with corporatist demands from lawyers and teachers. At the time, the latter denounced the “Francophonization” of the education system. Repressed by the authorities, these moderate leaders were arrested and imprisoned, paving the way for more radical English-speaking activists.
Fire
Since then, education has been badly affected. Hundreds of schools have been attacked. Hundreds of students and teachers have been tortured or kidnapped. Some were killed. For this 2023-2024 school year, if a minority of secessionist groups encouraged parents to send their children to school, the overwhelming majority ordered them not to do so.
And as has been the case since the start of the conflict, Monday was a “ghost-town” day. According to the authorities, the movement was followed in many English-speaking localities. “Mondays are difficult,” sighs Roland Ngwang, the regional delegate for basic education for the North West. It will not be until Tuesday that we will have a clear picture of the start of the school year. » He nevertheless assures that 9,000 students have returned to classes in the region. In anticipation of this new “dead city” day, Catholic establishments returned to school on Sunday.
“School did not resume” on Monday, admits Ali Anougou, sub-prefect in Kumba. In this southwestern town, residents woke up to gunfire as separatists attacked a security force checkpoint. According to Mr. Anougou, the shots of the “secessionist terrorists” fatally hit a young girl who lived in the neighborhood. The incident brought back terrible memories among the populations.
On October 24, 2020, armed men stormed the 6th grade class of Mother Francisca International Bilingual School, a private secondary school in Kumba, killing seven students aged 9 to 12 and injuring twelve others. The attack, never claimed, associated with the kidnappings and assassinations of teachers, has since pushed many parents to take their children out of school.
Abductions and ransoms
For this new school year, like the previous ones, the government has however announced that it has mobilized defense and security forces to protect establishments, students and teachers.
But “in Bamenda, outside a three kilometer radius, the rest of the region is totally insecure,” insists Semma Valentine. According to him, two teachers were killed in the North West on Sunday by armed men. “They were returning from a meeting with the head of basic education in their locality,” says the trade unionist.
Since 2017, more than 160 teachers have been killed in English-speaking regions, he said. “Last year, 23 teachers were killed and 58 were attacked or abducted,” said Mr. Valentine, who himself escaped a kidnapping two months earlier. “Kidnapping is commonplace for us teachers,” he says, noting that families pay large ransoms for their release.
This situation has pushed many educators to desert classrooms in these conflict zones. The Cameroonian authorities are threatening to strike off the absentees.
