A mammoth crowd joined staff of the Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education on wednesday in Yaounde to celebrate World Teachers’ Day.
Although the pump and pageantry that always marks the day was absent this year, the zeal to immortalise the day was same. Teachers thronged the esplanade of the Ministry of Secondary Education Yaounde yesterday October 5 to mark the 18th edition of World Teachers’ Day under the chair of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Secondary Education, Ivo Leke Tambo, representing his boss, Louis Bapès Bapès. Punctuated by musical interludes, the ceremony gave teachers the opportunity to celebrate what they do, and love doing; teaching.
Ivo Leke Tambo explained that the day was a commemoration of the recommendations of October 5, 1966 on the conditions of teachers in an international conference organised by UNESCO in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation. The day, he said, is therefore a reminder of the role teachers play as development levers. He stressed that “an education system that aspires for efficiency must lean on quality teachers, well trained, motivated and concerned of their noble and delicate mission to train men and actors for sustainable development.” Placed on the theme “Teachers for Gender Equality,” the chair of the event said the theme translates the will of government to match words with actions by giving equal opportunity for appointment to female teachers. In the quest to make Cameroon an emerging country in the threshold of 2035, teachers were urged to impart the young generation with the spirit of love for hard work, respect, honesty and aspiration for better performance.
The Resident Representative of UNESCO in Cameroon, Benoît Sossou, challenged teachers to work harder, while appreciating their role in shaping society. Poems recited spoke of the magnitude of the event; a day the only unique, honourable and great professionals via the chalk have to express their grievances and love for their profession.
Meanwhile in schools, the atmosphere was different. While some selected few dinned and wined at the Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education to mark the day, others gathered in their premises to share in in-house buffets, organised by their authorities. At the Government Bilingual Practising High School and Government High School, Ngoa-Ekelle, all in Yaounde, the décor for what was referred to as a “boom” was being put up by press time. Though students loitered around some campuses, information gotten from most of the institutions revealed that there were no classes. In primary schools visited, pupils were absent while preparations went ahead for the feast later in the day.
