REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Paix-Travail-Patrie SERVICES DU PREMIER MINISTRE SECRETARIAT GENERAL
REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace-Work-Fatherland PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE SECRETARIAT GENERAL
PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWING CABINET MEETING OF THURSDAY 5 MARCH 2020 ***
Yaounde, 5 March 2020
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, Joseph DION NGUTE, this Thursday, 5 March 2020, at 10 a.m. at the main building of the Prime Minister’s Office, chaired a Cabinet Meeting specially dedicated to the examination of the issue of violence in schools, in execution of the instructions of the President of the Republic. It was attended by Ministers of State, Ministers, Ministers-Delegate and Secretaries of State.
During this Meeting, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, the Ministers of Basic Education and Secondary Education took turns to make presentations on the state of violence in institutions under their authority, together with proposals for solutions. There was also an additional presentation by the Minister of Youth and Civic Education on the item on the agenda.
Speaking first at the end of the introductory statement by the Head of Government, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, first of all outlined the different meanings of violence in the university environment, before taking stock of this phenomenon in higher education institutions and pointing out that violence affects the quality of training and often leads to the desertion of campuses by students, lecturers and support staff.
The Minister of State further indicated that, with the exception of the Buea and Bamenda campuses, where violent events related to the crisis in the North-West and South-West Regions have been recorded, the level of violence remains marginal on the campuses of other State universities and private institutes of higher learning. Physical assaults with or without weapons are rare on campuses and are generally carried out by drug addicts, who operate off-campus, in remote and often poorly lit areas.
Among the measures taken to curb the spread of violence in universities, the Minister of State referred, inter alia, to the establishment of watch units within universities, strict control of drug use on campus, depoliticizing academic institutions, and strengthening awareness of the culture of peace, citizenship and responsibility through traditional and cyber media, and teaching programmes. In addition to the above, a new managerial governance is being implemented, based on permanent consultation, equity and probity in the management of various resources, as well as the improvement of the working conditions of members of the university community. The Minister of State concluded his remarks by emphasizing the vital role that the family must play in preventing violence in all its forms.
Speaking after him, the Minister of Basic Education first of all presented the main causes of the violence observed in primary and nursery schools. After referring to the various forms of violence observed in the schools under his jurisdiction, he said that the perpetrators and victims of such violence are, on a recurrent basis, the pupils themselves, teachers and administrative and supervisory staff.