Ministers warn against illegal private universities

The ministers of higher education of the republics of Cameroon and São Tomé and Príncipe have revealed that the private American University in Central Africa, an institution purportedly registered in São Tomé and Príncipe that has been recruiting students for its programmes in Cameroon, is illegal.

In a communique signed on 10 February 2022, Cameroon’s Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo, noted that the university is operating in Cameroon without authorisation, and has advised parents to be vigilant.

“The organisation called [the] American University in Central Africa, whose promoter in Cameroon is [allegedly] Professor Bahebeck Jean ... is a clandestine university which is not accredited by the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe,” part of the communique reads.

In another communique made public on 7 February, São Tomé and Príncipe’s Director General of Higher Education, Wanda Paquete Da Costa, declared that the said university is neither accredited in the country nor has submitted any application for accreditation.

The university, on its website, boasts that it is a registered entity in São Tomé and Príncipe and has applied for university accreditation to be issued by the ministry of education of the island.

It further states that its aim is “to offer American standard, cost effective and world-class education to qualified and motivated students of Central Africa directly after high school”.

Professor denies involvement

Professor Jean Bahebeck, who is mentioned in the minister’s communique, in an initial response to University World News, refuted the allegation that he was the promoter of the university but acknowledged that he is at the head of a similar ongoing project which, he says, will be made public in the days ahead.

Despite the denial, a publicity video of the university with its logo on it curiously introduces Bahebeck as dean of the faculty, co-founder and director.

He also features in some other official documentation, such as brochures.

The phone number on the contact page of the university is also one of the professor’s numbers.

In one of its brochures, which University World News has obtained, the American University in Central Africa was organising an entrance examination in the towns of Yaoundé, Douala, Bafoussam, Garoua and Limbe in Cameroon and in São Tomé, Bangui, Brazzaville, Libreville, and N’Djamena for entry into its faculty of medical and pharmaceutical sciences for the 2022 academic year.

According to Bahebeck, examinations were postponed and the students who registered were reimbursed.

“The project has been postponed for a few months in order to better prepare students and parents,” said Bahebeck.

An upsurge in illegal universities?

Cameroon’s minister of higher education has cautioned students, families and enterprises to be more vigilant in the face of the growing phenomenon of universities which are operating without formal approval throughout the world, face-to-face or online, without formal authorisation of the countries to which they improperly refer.

Order No 01/0096/MINESUP of 7 December 2001 determines the conditions for the setting up and functioning of private higher education institutions in Cameroon and states that the proprietor of a school should present, at each stage of the setting-up process, a portfolio which enables him to gradually obtain authorisation to set up an institution.

“Despite this order, many individuals and institutions continue to operate without authorisation and others who have had authorisation to operate, run programmes not initially agreed on in their authorisation to operate,” noted Professor Jean Atangana, an education policy analyst in Cameroon.

In 2020, the minister of higher education called to order the African Regional Training Centre for Labour Administration (CRADAT), in Yaoundé, the Pan African Institute for Development and the Bamenda University Institute of Science and Technology for not respecting the terms of the accreditation given to them.

At the time, the minister warned the three institutions to desist from issuing some bachelor degrees, and to suspend all masters and doctorate programmes, warning students that the said degrees will not be recognised.