Cameroon suspends creation of new private primary schools

The Cameroon Ministry of Basic Education has suspended the processing and examination of applications for the creation of new private primary schools. The suspension is set for an initial period of three months, which is renewable.

Minister Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa cited several reasons for the measure, including the use of precarious infrastructure, failure to meet pedagogical standards, and the circulation of fraudulent authorization documents. Officials noted instances where promoters declared larger land areas than actually existed or used authentic documents that did not reflect the reality of the facilities on the ground.

During this period, the directorate for monitoring private basic education will oversee founders as they work to sanitize the sector by collecting information on authorized schools. Following the suspension, the ministry will evaluate the progress made to determine if the freeze should be extended.