This is the key instruction the Minister of Secondary Education, Professor Nalova Lyonga, dished out to all secondary education stakeholders for the 2025-2026 academic year.
For the successful conduct of the 2025-2026 academic year which will officially kick off on Monday, 8 September 2025, the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC) intends to capitalise on the positive momentum gathered from the 2024-2025 academic year to further advance the secondary education subsector. But for this to be effective, Secondary Education Minister urged teachers, school administrators and Ministry’s officials to stand out by their concrete actions rather than by mere rhetoric.
This was during the solemn opening of the academic year 2025-2026 at Government Bilingual Technical High School Nsam on Tuesday, 19 August 2025. The event was attended by all top rank officials of the Ministry, including the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Secondary Education in charge of Teachers’ Training, Boniface Bayaola, the Secretary-General a.i. Djomnang Tchatchouang Léopold, the Inspector General of Services (IGS), Akat Fidelis Etta, the Inspector General of Education (IGE), Jean Paul Marcellin Mebada. Inspector-Generals of Pedagogy, Central Administration Directors and the ten Regional Delegates of Secondary Education were equally present, alongside prominent guests like Professor Eugene Sobngwi and the Director General of FEICOM, Philippe Camille Akoa.
The solemn pedagogic opening is a pivotal moment of the school year where the roadmap and initiatives that will shape all educational and administrative activities for the upcoming school year are defined. For the 2025-2026 academic year, the Ministry of Secondary Education will mobilise its action around the theme: “Safety, Health, and Learning in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
In her keynote address, Professor Nalova Lyonga highlighted the major achievements of MINESEC during the 2024-2025 academic year. These include: the successful implementation of distance learning through digitalisation that led to appropriate syllabi coverage nationwide, improved academic results, with the heart-warming example of Government Secondary School Mikila in the Adamawa Region, concrete testimonies of the positive use of Artificial Intelligence as well as other impactful initiatives like “Bridge the Gap, Change the Narrative” which gave the Secondary Education subsector an uplifted face in the three Northern Regions of Cameroon.
Building from this momentum, Professor Nalova Lyonga envisages taking secondary education to a higher level with an increased use of digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence in the classroom, as many more schools will be equipped with smart boards this school year. Artificial Intelligence associated with the updated syllabi which were handed over to the ten Regional Delegates of Secondary Education is highly expected to contribute to improving students’ learning experience so that they will be able to create solutions to problems and change the narrative in their respective living environments.
Emphasis will equally be laid on enhancing inclusive education in secondary schools and ensuring learners’ security and health, beginning with healthy nutrition in schools. Hence the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Professor Eugene Sobngwi, the promoter of RSD Institute, who made an insightful presentation on the necessity of scaling up healthy nutrition to adolescents during the ceremony.
In order to translate this vision into a tangible reality for all secondary school students, the Minister of Secondary Education instructed teachers, school administrators as well as officials of MINESEC to stand out through hard work and concrete achievements which henceforth will be key determinants for promotion.
Relying on the presentations made by the IGE, the Inspector-Generals of Pedagogy and the Director of Guidance Counselling, School Life and Educational Assistance (DOVAS) during the event, all the stakeholders are committed to put hands on deck in order to make “Safety, Health, and Learning in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” a resounding success in the Ministry of Secondary Education under the enlightened leadership of Professor Nalova Lyonga.
Aimé Ngidjol, ARO 1 Celcom/MINESEC