Some requirements asked in schools do not make primary education free as it is supposed to be.
Free registration! That was one of the messages on posters seen on the walls of most government primary schools in the city of Yaounde yesterday September 11 by a team of CT reporters. In some of these schools, the head teachers had even gone further through other messages to inform parents and the education community that education in the primary sector is free and that parents have to help school authorities fight all sorts of corruption in the institutions. At a time when the government is reiterating the fact that basic education is free, there is widespread outcry on some charges by certain head teachers in some primary schools that have made primary education more expensive than before.
The Head Teacher of Government Bilingual Primary School Ekoudou, Yaounde, Grace Njweipi said once a parent is seeking admission for a child, the first requirement is the birth certificate of the pupil placed in a file. Thereafter, the child's name is registered on the admission list. "No registration fee is required," Grace Njweipi underscored. Later, the book list is handed to the parent for purchase at his discretion. Grace Njweipi said the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) often sits and decides on what contributions parents have to make for the development of the school. But this is not an obligatory item for parents or pupils attending the school. In fact Grace Njweipi stressed that "a child cannot be sent away from school because he/she has not paid PTA fees".
The situation at the Government Bilingual Practising Primary School Bastos is not different. The Head Teacher of Group II, Regina Tamambang said although there is free registration, parents have to buy their children's text books and other didactic materials. While noting that PTA is not a condition for registration, Regina Tamambang explained that the PTA fees is decided upon by parents who spend the money depending on what they have identified as priority for the school. At another primary school in Yaounde, CT learned from a secretary that registration is free but that the head teacher was not around to inform the parent on the other fees that needed to be paid during admission. Only God knows about the purpose of the other fees. Recently in a government primary school in Yaounde, a delegation of members from the National Anti-Corruption Unit (CONAC) on control were shocked to realise that a parent had to pay some FCFA 25,000 for some school needs to have his child registered in the school. With the payment of such school needs in certain schools, one begins to doubt the extent to which basic education is free.
