Minister Louis Bapes Bapes chaired the ceremony on September 9, 2015, insisting on strengthening professionalisation.

Following the resumption of classes earlier this week by pupils and students for the 2015/2016 academic year, Wednesday, September 9, 2015, was the turn of secondary school teachers to formally resume work. The launch of the new academic year for teachers in the premises of the Teachers’ Resource Centre, CAAP, in downtown Yaounde, was presided by the Minister of Secondary Education, Louis Bapes Bapes. It lasts three days.

The theme for this year is “Professionalising education for training citizens ready for economic growth.” According to the Minister, a recent study revealed some weaknesses in government’s efforts to professionalise secondary education. He therefore directed that emphasis be henceforth laid on the competence-based approach to teaching Manual Labour, Guidance Counselling, Physical Education, etc, as well as reinforcing entrepreneurial partnerships. He implored school heads to prevent corruption and the use of hard drugs in campuses, emphasizing that the secular nature of public schools must be respected. Bapes Bapes urged teachers to avoid any confusion between trial curricula and those already endorsed for use.

In her lecture on professionalising secondary education, the Inspector General of Education, Dr Evelyne Mpoudi Ngolle, said new trades have been introduced to enable students begin to fend for themselves. In addition, some pilot, purely professional high schools have gone operational. In another lecture, the Inspector, Coordinator General of ICTs, Zobo Eric Patrick, stated that today’s education must focus on innovation and creativity; warning that teachers cannot continue to work in the 21^st Century with 20^th Century tools.