Authorities applaud private education sector performance

This was during the Regional Council for Private Education stock-taking meeting in Douala.

Among the 1,268 nursery schools in the Littoral Region, 1,019 are privately-owned, representing 80.36 per cent, while 1,120 of the 1,815 recognised primary schools in the region are of the private sector. In the same light, the rate of success in certificate examinations shows that the private sector performed better in the 2014/2015 academic year, scoring between 85.3 to 90.2 per cent in the First School Leaving Certificate, FSLC, while public schools scored 76.1 per cent.

Also, the private scored between 70.3 and 85.6 in the CEP examination, while the public scored 67.2 per cent. From all indications, the private sector is the bedrock of basic education in the region, reason why the representative of the Governor for Littoral Region, Ludovic Ngbwa, congratulated the private education family for impacting future leaders. He attributed the success to an improved administrative and pedagogic organisation, rigorous discipline, improved human resource and infrastructure.

During the Regional Council of Private Education meeting that aimed at taking stock of the just ended academic year and charting the way forward, the Regional Delegate of Basic Education, Henriette Elise Essame, enjoined Education Secretaries of the Catholic, Protestant, Islamic and Lay Private as well as school founders, to respect regulations.

She frowned at schools that do not respect the FCFA 36,270 minimum wage and those that are yet to register employees with the National Social Insurance Fund, CNPS.

Among other irregularities recorded in some private schools are irregular salaries, tax evasion, and functioning of clandestine schools. Experts from the Regional Delegations of Employment and Vocational Training, Labour and Social Security, Taxation and CNPS, briefed Education Secretaries and encouraged them to fulfil their obligations towards workers and government departments.