By Doh James Sonkey
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute inaugurated last March 3, 2026 at Leclerc Government High School in Yaounde, the pioneer smart classroom offered by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council to Secondary Education Ministry in Cameroon.
The Prime Minister, Head of Government described the smart classroom as very transformational.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, Lord Jonathan Peter Merland, Chairman of PROMETHAN, Dr Simon Leung, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education and Chancellor of Academic Orders, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of Basic Education, Prof Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, Minister of Women Empowerment and the Family, Prof Marie Therese Abena Ondoa, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng, Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, Joseph LE, Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Dr Taiga, Minister of Labour and Social Security, Grégoire Owona, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Public Contracts, Ibrahim Talba Malla, Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of the Commonwealth, Felix Mbayu, Secretary of State to the Minister of Secondary Education, Dr Boniface Bayaola, Secretary of State to the Minister of Basic Education, Prof Vivian Asheri Kilo amongst others.
Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute said, “we have two cities that have radically transformed the way we teach, and this practice is revolutionary. It’s very interesting, and if these centres are multiplied all over the country, I think it will really give a boost to our system. This tool, for example, does not depend on Internet connection. As soon as it is installed somewhere, you can connect through the tools they have, and you don’t need electricity or power. There is electricity generated by solar panels, and water is also generated in this way.”
Stressing on the significance of the smart classroom for the education system in Cameroon, he said, “well, from the little I’ve seen today, it’s going to transform the way of teaching methods in Cameroon. You find yourself in a classroom, but really it’s not as if you’re in a class. It’s an interactive manner of teaching. It’s as if you’re in a professional space, and that is the novelty. Instruments like this did not exist when some of us were going to school. So, it’s very transformational.”
The Minister of Secondary Education, Prof Nalova Lyonga expressed hope that this wonderful instrument will slowly transform radically teaching methods in Cameroon. In her speech declared that, “we are going to transform the education in Cameroon.”
The Secondary Education boss disclosed that, “Cameroon is on the edge of revolution in the world. And so, thanks to the Commonwealth and Promethean, we are not left behind. And what is good about it is that we have a President who is so far ahead of us when he started the Multimedia Resource Centre, I’m sure many of us did not think about it. But from Multimedia Resource Centre we are here today talking about the intelligent classroom.”
The minister explained that, “no matter what it is, the tools are the same but the methods may be different. And Cameroon is actually moving on. Cameroonian children have such intelligence and it’s just right that they should have an intelligent classroom to do what they want to do.”
Prof Nalova Lyonga disclosed that the smart classroom was erected in two weeks with everything in steel and she expressed gratitude to the Cameroonian engineer who did the job.
The Minister announced that the North West and East regions will be the next in line to play host to the smart classrooms.
Presenting the smart classroom, Dr Simon Leung of Promethean described it as a very powerful step in the future for Cameroon. “This classroom represents not only just a physical building, but it’s an idea and a future of education. It is a new model of learning infrastructure. Besides all the technology we put in, if you look at the building, it’s light, modern, inspiring, designed to match global standards. More importantly, designed to be replicated wherever there is a need.”
He said, “this unit is equipped with 60 solar panels, battery storage, independent water supply, separate sanitation facility, very important, and also the capacity and capability to operate fully off-grid. It can function anywhere, even when traditional infrastructure is limited. This is access, it’s resilience, and more importantly, this is what we call equity in education, because we can take this and put it anywhere in Cameroon. This initial unit, to be honest, we sourced a lot of parts from abroad, but I’m very happy to confirm to you we have all the capability and all the resources to do this locally right here in Cameroon. This opened up the door for skill development, job creation, local capability, and also long-term cost efficiency”, he detailed.
In her welcome note, the Principal of GHS Leclerc, Judith Mariane Fouda Mengue, expressed gratitude to the government for choosing their school to play host to this innovative digital classroom in Cameroon.