Effective classes have begun in private teachers’ training colleges in the city.

The Secretary of Sate for Secondary Education in charge of Teacher Training, Mounouna Foutsou paid a working visit to some private teachers’ training colleges and technical teachers’ training colleges in the Mfoundi Division of the Centre Region on Monday April 9, 2012. The objective of the visit was to ensure the effective take off of the Third Term of the 2011-2012 academic year.

The Secretary of State visited six colleges where classes had effectively begun without any major hitches. Regina Nkweti, a teacher with Bribeu Teachers’ College at Santa Barbara, Yaounde urged government to grant subventions to the school to enable it pay teachers well.

Mounouna Foutsou said Mfoundi Division was chosen because out of the 44 private teacher training colleges in the country, 23 are found in the division. He said during the visit, some problems were noticed. For instance, all the colleges operate in the evenings, thus raising doubts about the quality of training offered. Also, there is a problem of infrastructure. Most of the schools operate in primary school buildings. According to the Secretary of State, the visit was also to sensitise proprietors of the colleges on the code of conduct of the ministry so that they can improve the quality of teaching.

The visit ended with a working session with college proprietors in order to come out with solutions to improve the quality of training.