Introduction
The Bishops of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC), at their 67th Ordinary Meeting in Bamenda from 16 to 23 August 2019, reflected on various issues affecting the pastoral life of the Church in the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, whose territorial circumscription coincides with the territory of the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. Top on our list of concerns was the extent of insecurity and misery that the socio-political crisis has imposed on the people of these two Regions, and especially on the children who have not been able to go to school for the past three years.
On 6 December 2016, at the early stages of the crisis, we, the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda addressed an appeal to all stakeholders, calling for an end to the strike action that had been called by the teachers so that children could go back to school and continue with their studies which had been stopped abruptly. This call was not heeded to. We have run into the third year of the crisis and still, there are no clear indications that schools will resume this year and run smoothly. There is a lot of campaign on the part of the Government for the resumption of schools. In our churches and elsewhere, we have also declared that schools should resume. We have even been accused on social media and other places, of having been bribed by the Government to preach the reopening of schools. We have also been accused of promoting the resumption of schools not for love of children who need to be educated but because of love of money generated by schools. We are neither politicians nor business men, but Pastors who have the divine obligation to direct our people in the way of truth, justice and peace without fear or favour.
Faced with this situation, we have decided to address an open letter to all the stakeholders in this matter of the education of children and we make one more appeal to them for understanding and to act for the good of our children and our society.
Why the Bishops Are Concerned about the Resumption of Schools
Since the beginning of this crisis, we have endeavoured to make a clear distinction between the causes of the crisis and the children’s right to education. We have always made recourse to the teachings of the Church, that “all men of whatever race, condition or age, in virtue of their dignity as human persons, have an inalienable right to education. This education should be suitable to the particular destiny of the individuals, adapted to their ability, sex and national cultural traditions, and should be conducive to fraternal relations with other nations in order to promote true unity and peace in the world” (Gravissimum Educationis, n.I).
All the children in the North West and the South West regions deserve this right to education and to a good future wherever they decide to make their lives. The system of education may not be the best, and in fact in other documents, we have called for a re-working of the educational system to cater for the Anglophone sub-system of education in its originality and entirety. While this has not yet been adequately done, we think that the children ought to be going to school and grow intellectually while the struggle goes on to rectify the system.
Secondly, this crisis has been going on now for three years and there has been no school in most places all these years. With the way things are going regarding the solution to the crisis, there is no guarantee that there will be an acceptable solution to all the parties in the near future that will enable everyone to accept that schools should resume. Does this mean that if the crisis continues for the next ten or more years, children will stay at home for all these years? This is totally unacceptable. We cannot take children hostage, compromise their future, and use them for political exploits, while it is clear that we are destroying them beyond measure and they are losing time that will never be regained.
Thirdly, this struggle for no return to school is a grave injustice against the poor of our society. Those who are well to do are getting their children settled in schools in the Francophone Regions of Cameroon and elsewhere, and only the poor who cannot afford it are having their kids at home. Even those who manage to send their kids to school in Francophone Cameroon are paying exorbitant school fees and tolerate their children to stay in very difficult conditions just to get an education. Definitely, getting Anglophone children educated in Francophone Cameroon does not solve the problem of those who are fighting for the restoration of the Anglophone educational system. Instead, they are eroding in those children, the little remnant of the Anglophone culture they had in them.
Fourthly, many parents have been consistently deceived about the education of their children. They were told at the beginning of the crisis that if they kept children at home, UNESCO would cancel the academic year in the whole of Cameroon. Three years have passed and schools have gone on without UNESCO cancelling any academic year. We were told that the results of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education Examinations at Ordinary and Advanced Levels would not be accepted by any university outside Cameroon. The truth is that those who wrote and passed the examinations are in universities all over the world. Parents were told that a new syllabus would come out by January 2017 and be implemented in all the schools in the North West and South West Regions, but nothing has come out and nothing is being implemented anywhere. For how long shall we continue to deceive our own people for political gains?
Fifthly, the argument for the lack of security is being used to frighten and prevent the parents from sending their children to school. It is true that there is a high level of insecurity, but there is hardly any country around the world where schools were closed for so many years because of insecurity. During the South African Apartheid Regime and the imprisonment of most of the leaders of the ANC, schools were not closed permanently, because youngsters had to be formed to continue the struggle. During the war in Sudan, Eritrea, East Timor and other countries that have gone through similar struggles, schools did not close down permanently, because they understood that no matter the outcome, the future would need educated leaders.
Sixthly, there is a manipulation of the people of these two Regions by those who are in the Diaspora. While their children go freely to school, and some of them have graduated and even defended their PhD Theses in institutions of higher learning abroad, they advocate that children on “ground zero” should not go to school. Why must the children who happen to find themselves in this part of the country suffer under the yoke of those whose families are well settled abroad and do not feel the pain of staying at home or mortgaging their futures?
Seventhly, thousands of Anglophones Cameroonians who served as teachers in various schools have been rendered jobless. Granted that those who teach in Government schools still receive their salaries, those in the private sector with their families are left to languish without salaries. As such, teachers who once earned their own bread proudly and joyfully have been reduced to beggars. Motor taxi men, women selling food in the dinning sheds of schools, book sellers and many others, who made their livelihood from the schools, have been plunged into untold poverty. Yet, no one knows for how long they are going to remain in this misery.
Convinced of the arguments above, we, the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, earnestly make this appeal to the following groups:
The “Amba Fighters”: We call on the “Amba Fighters” to try as much as possible to approach this problem of schools more with reason than with emotions. Some “Amba Fighters” have burnt down schools and they have inflicted torture, mutilated people, maimed others and even taken the lives of some of those who work in schools or who are pro schools. We fully understand also that many of the “Amba Fighters” are our brothers and sisters, who have gone to school and now have no jobs, because of the type of education they received or of the economic situation of the country. At least they can read and write. We, therefore, strongly appeal to them not to disturb parents who want to send their children to school, teachers who are ready to teach, and the children themselves. We call on them not to carry out any acts of violence against those who are for school reopening. They should also stop burning down or attacking educational institutions.
The Parents and the Teachers: We realise how much you have suffered since the beginning of the socio-political crisis, especially as you have not been free to go where you want and even to engage in business. Many businesses have shut down in some of our towns and instead of progressing, we have regressed in many aspects. You have had to live in constant fear of being attacked or caught in crossfire between the Military and the “Amba Fighters”. So many people have been rendered homeless: some have had to flee and seek refuge with relations and friends in other towns; and others have simply been transformed into refugees, living in the bushes or out of the country under very subhuman conditions. Whatever the case, the welfare and education of your children is your primary responsibility and we call on you not to be afraid to take such responsibility. We appeal to all parents to endeavour to bring their children to school and also defend them and their educational institutions where and when necessary against anyone who tries to disturb their children’s education. For how long shall parents continue to keep their children at home, who are growing big in size and age but with nothing in their heads? We encourage the teachers, at this difficult moment, not to give up the noble vocation of educating the young.
The Government and the Military: The education of citizens is a duty of the state. It is the right of every state to have a military and to employ this military for the protection of its citizens and the defence of its territorial integrity. However, it has also been known that some military have exaggerated the use of force against innocent civilians and sometimes have committed horrendous crimes against children. Some have been accused of burning down schools and we have concrete cases where the military invaded schools and disturbed the quiet of children studying. We appeal to the Government to exercise more vigilance over its military and at the same time we implore the military to stay as far away from schools as possible. The school is not a barracks and they should not go to the schools if they have not been invited by the competent authorities. Any disturbance of schools by the military will actually be interpreted as a sabotage against the state and an expression of the desire that the crisis should not end. We call on the military to respect human lives, especially the lives of children, so that we never again have a repeat of the situation in the Far North Region of Cameroon, where soldiers were filmed killing children.
The Anglophone Diaspora: it is clear that the Anglophone Diaspora has played a great part in this crisis in Cameroon and they continue to do so. They have exercised a great influence on the people on “ground zero” and they actually attempt to rule the North West and the South West Regions from abroad. It is impossible for those in the diaspora to adequately understand the sufferings of the people in these two regions and how much their rash decisions have sometimes led to the death of the very people they claim they are protecting. Does not the golden rule say, “Do unto others what you would want done unto you”? How can you be comfortably studying and allowing your children to study while you impede the children of others from going to school? We appeal for a review of the strategies in this struggle which will not include children not going to school. We also call on our brothers and sisters abroad not to be influencing and encouraging in any way, the “Amba Fighters” to disturb the attendance of schools. No matter the outcome of this crisis, we need an educated youth to face the problems of tomorrow and contribute to the development of their society.
Conclusion
The Church received the mandate from Christ to “go and teach all nations” and it is our duty to make sure that we never relent in carrying out this command of Christ by educating the youth of our society. No one should look at the education ministry of the Church as a moneymaking venture. We should understand it in the context of our evangelization and preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth. Our Catholic schools have always excelled in academics and our Catholic teachers have always sacrificed to make sure that parents who bring their children to our schools are proud of what we are offering. In good times and bad times, we shall continue to evangelize and in times of peace and in times of war, we shall not stop to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.
It is our fervent desire that all who read this open letter will see the concern we have for the good of our children and not try to give misinterpretations that will derail others from seeing the truth that is staring at them in the face. It is also our wish that all those whom we have addressed in this letter will examine their consciences and try to collaborate so that schools resume and function normally.
We wish all our children and teachers a happy and successful School Year 2019/2020.