Political parties focus on HE as they eye presidency

Political actors vying to become Cameroon’s next president on 12 October have pledged to implement reforms to address growing economic concerns in the country, including the surging unemployment of graduates, the need for innovative higher education policies, especially in the science and technology sector, as well as professional training and entrepreneurship for self-employment.

The race for Cameroon’s highest office started on 26 July after Elections Cameroon, or ELECAM, the body charged with conducting elections, published a list of 13 names, from an initial group of 81 who qualified to be presidential candidates.

Unlike in the past, reforms in education generally, and especially in the higher education sector, seem to be a major rallying point for political parties competing in the upcoming ballot.

A good number of opposition candidates vying to replace the incumbent 92-year-old President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 43 years, blame the country’s economic stagnation on an inadequate education policy, emphasising the need to reform the education sector in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

What candidates are promising

In a news briefing after the recent publication of the final list of candidates, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a former employment and vocational training minister, who is running for the elections on the party ticket of the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon, presented his manifesto, stating the need for wide-ranging reforms – especially in the higher education sector.

“The country is facing a range of educational challenges that limit access to quality education and hinder the development of human capital. Building strong human capital with quality experts in key innovative sectors like sciences, technology, entrepreneurship for self-employment, has become imperative for the country’s economic growth,” Bakary said.

Cameroon’s youthful population holds the key to unlock much-needed economic growth, innovation and sustainable development if they (the youth) are well trained and equipped with the right skills, especially at university level, he added.

According to a World Bank report, Cameroon’s youth population from the ages of 18 to 35, represents 57% of the active population.

The report noted that the rapid population growth and urbanisation potential in the country underscored the urgent need for improved job opportunities through training and skills, especially in the sciences.

Another candidate challenging the incumbent, Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front, or SDF, presented his party’s manifesto, which highlighted the need to increase education spending in the national budget.

“We are envisaging an approach to resource mobilisation reforms, focusing especially on infrastructure in digital transformation and market-relevant higher education to prepare Cameroon’s youth for an increasingly digital economy,” Osih said at a news briefing in Bamenda on 26 July.

He also promised to put an end to years of crisis in the English-speaking regions: “University and other higher education students have continued to face harassment and arrest in these crisis regions because of political greed. We need to put this crisis to an end,” he said.

Hermine Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, the leader of the Cameroon Democratic Union, or CDU, party, and the lone woman in the list of 13 running for the presidency race, told University World News: “Cameroon’s research and academic landscape suffers from systemic under-investment in institutional infrastructure, limited funding, and weak support systems for faculty development.

“Without strong institutions, efforts to build research capacity remain fragmented and unsustainable. We need to equip our universities with up-to-date infrastructure for researchers to be able to compete with their peers in other countries,” she said.

Academics call for renewal in sector

Two academics, who were not retained in the final list of 13, aligned their voices with the rallying calls of the other politicians in the election race.

One of the lead opposition candidates, Professor Maurice Kamto, who applied to participate in the presidential election as part of the Manifesto for Democracy, or MANIDEM, political party in a rally on 16 July, before the publication of the final list, had criticised the ongoing system with exaggerated longevity of some members of government in power that stagnate innovation and policy change.

Kamto, an international jurist, politician and law lecturer at the University of Yaoundé I, noted the case of current minister of higher education, Jacques Fame Ndongo, who has been in the same position for just over 20 years, stagnating change that could bring stimulating perspectives in policy reforms in the sector.

“We cannot continue with a system that is resistant to change. We need change that brings a stimulating perspective to our higher education policy, [and] encourages our students to study at our local universities [rather] than rush abroad,” Kamto said at a political rally of his party on 16 July.

He also expressed the need to create a national scientific, industrial and research council to oversee the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the country’s policy on science and technology development.

Another academic, Professor Jean Bahebeck, of the Union des Populations du Cameroun, or Union of the People of Cameroon, party, who is also in the presidential race, pledged to establish a higher education system that is accessible, equitable and inclusive.

Bahebeck, who is a medical doctor and lecturer in surgery in the school of medicine at the University of Yaoundé I, calls for reforms in the training of health professionals and experts that will guarantee an enabling working environment for graduates and curb the high rate of migration and brain drain of young medical doctors.

Officials, students call for change

At a cabinet meeting at the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year, as well as during the 2024 University Coordination Commission meeting, higher education officials called for higher education reforms, according to a news report. Similarly, students have highlighted areas of concern.

For instance, they have decried insufficient student accommodation infrastructure in virtually all 11 state universities, obliging four out of five students to live off campus with all the insecurity risks and high cost of housing involved, making studies perilous.

“We need more on-campus accommodation for our security especially, and to facilitate studies,” Stanley Epie, a third-year student in law at the University of Buea, told University World News.

The students promised to vote for candidates whose manifestos address worrying infrastructure needs.