UPGRADING AND SUSTAINING DISTANCE EDUCATION

MINESUP- MINESEC agree to mutualise their resources to ameliorate the Cameroonian Education System through continuous Digitalization.

This is the outcome of an inter-ministerial working session co-chaired by the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education Prof. Jacques FAME NDONGO and the Minister of Secondary Education, Professor Nalova LYONGA on Friday, 24 June 2022 at the Cameroon Universities Network and Digital Development Centre in Yaoundé.

During this meeting the two members of government acknowledged the efforts the State has made so far in the digitalization of education in Cameroon through the Cameroon Universities Network and Digital Development Centre and MINESEC’s Distance Education Centre and sort for ways to mutualise their efforts for continuous digitalization from Secondary to Higher Education.

At the end of the working session, both ministers jointly decided to collaborate in mutualising the methods of the two administrations as far as the digital transformation of the Cameroon Education System is concerned. The effective cooperation between the Cameroon Universities Network and Digital Development Centre and MINESEC’s Distance Education Centre, to build the capacities of Secondary School Teachers in Digital Pedagogic Technology through all the Departments of Computer Sciences in HTTCs and HTTTCs, as well as use the infrastructure and resources of both Ministries with a view to improving and modernizing the educational system.

Finally, the two members of government took the engagement to regularly evaluate this new collaboration in order to substantially improve and modernize digital education within their two ministerial departments.

It is important to state here that, this falls in line with the implementation of the very high directives of the Head of State, His Excellency Paul Biya on the digitalization of the educational system in Cameroon enshrined in the National Development Strategy (NDS30).

K. T Lois NGEK/ CELCOM

Curriculum improvement, Distance evaluation, Development of virtual laboratories featured among the key topics discussed during the audience the Secondary Education Minister granted Yao Ydo, the Director of UNESCO International Bureau of Education (UNESCO-IBE), on Friday, 17 June 2022.

The Director of the UNESCO Institute specialising in education quality issues met with the officials of the Ministry of Secondary Education to explore cooperation avenues for improving quality education at the secondary education level. A wide range of education-related issues were discussed during the meeting.

UNESCO-IBE wants to share its knowledge in the areas of contextualized curriculum design, capacity-building for stakeholders in curriculum development, development of tools for distance evaluation. The institute equally wishes to have a consultative reflexion with MINESEC on the integration of new technologies into the classroom. This will help develop 21^st-century skills in learners and enable them take full advantage of their ingenuity and fit-in in our complex and fast-changing world.

MINESEC embraced the cooperation proposal from IBE and expressed interest in working with the UNESCO Institute in the fields of curriculum transformation, distance education, distance evaluation and development virtual laboratories. Other areas of interest, including the development of Blue curricula (for ocean literacy and knowledge), development of condensed educational programmes to be used within three months in case of emergencies, are equally contemplated.

Aimé Ngidjol

CELCOM