2022-2023 Academic Year: Government assurance smooth takeoff amid threats to strike

As weeks drop to days, hours drop to minutes, and seconds, the education community is preparing for the 2022-2023 academic year in Cameroon. Teachers through their various trade unions have already threatened to boycott the kickoff of the new school year if the government fails to meet their demands tabled since February 2021.

Prior to the new school year, the ministers of basic and secondary education, alongside the minister of public service and in charge of communication have reiterated the government’s efforts in ensuring an effective school resumption and a strike-free academic year.

They revealed that between February 2022 till August 2022 a total of 22.967 files of teachers pending integration have been processed, payment of salary arrears began in March, those for housing allowance followed in May while in June arrears relating to salary increment were paid to teachers too an all will be settled by January 2023.

93.773 secondary school teachers and 90.845 primary school teachers have already been paid. But teacher’s trade unions have rubbished the efforts saying, it is not enough. They cite the example of thousands still waiting to be integrated into public service.

As of 2022, Cameroon had over 14000 government schools against 8000 private schools, statistics have revealed.