Below is a press release following the Cabinet meeting of Thursday 31 January 2013 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The Prime Minister, Head of Government, Mr. Philemon YANG, today Thursday, 31 January 2012 as from 11:00 a.m. in the main building of the Prime Minister’s Office, chaired the first Cabinet Meeting of 2013. In attendance were the Vice-Prime Minister, the Minister of State, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Ministers, Ministers-Delegate and Secretaries of State.

Two items featured on the agenda:

1. 1. A statement by the Minister for Territorial Administration and Decentralization on : “the assessment of the situation of the 2012 flood victims and the opening of the Support Fund for Victims of Disasters and Catastrophes”;
2. 2. A joint statement of the Ministers for Secondary and Higher Education on “the professionalization of the educational system: current situation, challenges and prospects”, presented by the Minister for Higher Education.

The Minister-Delegate in the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization presented an update of the situation in the two regions hit by floods between August and November 2012. He pointed out that the emergency situation was brought under control with support from the Government and friendly countries. The situation is gradually returning to normal and no health risk for the population has been detected.

The cash and non-cash contributions disbursed as assistance and placed at disposal of the populations by the Head of State, amounting to CFAF 300 million and 500 million respectively, was effectively distributed in a fair and transparent manner in the North and Far-North Regions using a participatory approach involving the active forces of the relevant localities.

In the North Region, most affected people returned to their homes after the water level receded. However, some parts of Garoua 2 and 3 Sub-divisions are still inaccessible.

The situation in the Far-North Region is more preoccupying, particularly in Logone and Chari Division where the water level remains high, with the risk of rising further, despite the onset of the dry season. This situation prompted the local authorities to again displace the populations to Pouss and Guirvidig while a massive influx of homeless people was observed in Kousseri Camp.

Furthermore, agro-pastoral activities, such as the cultivation of rice and other off-season crops, have been negatively affected. This is a serious threaten to food security in this zone.

The Minister-Delegate indicated that the post-crisis management phase is ongoing in both regions and that special emphasis will be placed on repairing damaged roads.

With regard to the creation of the Disaster Victims’ Support Fund announced by the President of the Republic on 20 September 2013, the Minister-Delegate in the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization indicated that its inclusion in the 2013 Finance Law is a key milestone. The CFAF 2 billion allotment earmarked in 2013 will be mobilized as soon as conditions for the management of the fund are specified in a decree being drafted jointly with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry in charge of the economy.

Support To Disaster Victims

At the end of discussions that followed this statement, the Head of Government asked the Minister for Territorial Administration and Decentralization to instruct local administrative authorities to continue offering Government’s support to the disaster victims while accelerating conditions for a final return to normalcy.
He further enjoined the Minister for the Economy, Planning and Regional Development to ensure the speedy and effective implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic to construct a road-dyke to channel the waters of River Logone and a protective dyke round Lake Maga.

Education Challenges And Prospective

The Cabinet Meeting continued with the statement presented by the Minister for Higher Education on the current situation, challenges and prospects of professionalization of the educational system.
The Minister demonstrated that Government has been implementing a policy of professionalization of education since the late 1980s. At the level of secondary technical education (which represents 22% of the number of schools and 25% of enrolments), this was seen in: more technical and vocational colleges and high schools created; better technical training equipment procured; diversification of training courses, especially with the recent creation of an agricultural technical high school in Yabassi; and partnerships forged with socio-professional communities.

In higher education, professionalization is applied to all streams, these having necessarily to lead to an employment. The Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate system is a powerful means of strengthening students’ employability. This option of professionalization is seen especially in: (i) the opening of 14 of the 15 technological and professional establishments created by the 1993 University Reform; (ii) standard faculties like that of law and economics being encouraged to promote professional training, (iii) the development of partnerships with the business world; (iv) the creation of corporate incubators in some schools; and (v) work-study programmes.

The Minister pointed out that, though laudable, these efforts remain inadequate, considering the many pressing challenges facing Cameroon’s emergence and the implementation of the Major Accomplishments programme. In this regard, the education sector must address at least five challenges: (1) judiciously articulate the educational system and the economic environment; (2) factor in the importance of the informal sector as a recipient of most trained resources; (3) efficiently manage educational system flows; (4) strengthen synergy between the education sector and the socio-economic community with such tools as work-study programmes; and (5) increase funding for technological and professional education, which is much more expensive than general education, with a view to its massification.

With regard to prospects, the Minister for Higher Education advocated a holistic reform of technological and professional training to make it more intelligible and increase the number of students in its streams from 13% currently to 27% by 2020.
In that regard, he suggested that syllabuses and training modalities should become more flexible and that the school and university map in this sub-sector should be revised to align it to economic and agro-ecological zones and foster the creation of techno-poles with pooled resources.
The Prime Minister asked the Ministers in charge of higher and secondary education to take necessary measures to foster quality training in existing technological and professional establishments.

Specifically, he urged the Minister for Higher Education to rationalize the policy on the opening and functioning of private institutes of higher education that offer health training in order to guarantee quality.

Proceedings were adjourned at 1:45 p.m. after consideration of sundry matters linked to Governmental activity.”

Yaounde, 31 January 2013

GHOGOMU Paul MINGO,

Director of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet

NB: Sub heads are CT’s