What the Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo, might have thought to be a very bright idea, seems not to have landed well on some trade unions and associations, in one way or the other linked with issues in our Higher Institutions of learning, as well as other corperate bodies who believe they deserve the right to defend certain Anglophone values, whenever they are threatened. Recently, the Minister held a meeting with experts of the various faculties of state universities, to see how best they, together, can introduce reforms that will run on the lines of a general harmonisation of the two sub education systems, with special emphasis on the higher education.
Unfortunately for the minister, the National Syndicate of Teachers of Higher Education, SYNE, the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union CATTU, the Union of Parents Teachers Associations of Cameroon, UPTA, also joined by Cameroon Common Law Lawyers , held an emergence meeting at which they expressed their disappointment with Jacques Fame Ndongo’ initiative to harmonise the system. Their bitterness could clearly be read from the body language of what constituted a joint blue-print of what was decided at the meeting.
Their argument is that the minister’s harmonization plan is intended to destroy Anglophones as a cultural entity.
On the part of the minister, he insists that the reforms will create a standard base on which the system of studies and education programmes of these faculties will be built in order to enable student mobility and credit transferability fron one university to the other, as proof of the implementation of the LMD system in the Higher Institutions of learning in Cameroon.
Between these two diametrically opposed positions in their arguments, it is difficult to see where the balance can be drawn. Minister Fame Ndongo talks about creating a base on which the system of studies and education programmes of faculties will be built in order to facilitate student mobility from one university to the other, as proof of the implementation of the LMD system in our universities. In the first place, not much has be revealed as to the real format of the harmonization plan, apart from what looks like a skeleton of the plan itself. For this reason therefore, the issue is still open to many questions.
However what is obvious iis that there is a long term mistrust between Anglophones ande Francophones especially on matters that infringe on the cultural values and identity of the Anglophones, who have always identified every move by the Francophone leadership as moves intended to assimilate them in addition to their long time cry of marginalistion.
Memories are still fresh on what was expected to be the harmonization of the penal code which ended up in the opposite of what was intended to be. Much of what the Anglophone common Law system provided for the harmonization was either by omission or commission, thrown over- board in the name of harmonisation.
There is therefore every reason for the Anglophones to harbour the phobia for any initiative that comes from the Francophones. Which is why we believe that this fear is genuine, especially if one takes into consideration the fact that Minister Fame Ndongo had earlier mooted the idea of scraping the teaching of Common Law in Cameroon universities. We strongly believe that the best way to consolidate our unity is for the various cultural values which both sides in the union inherited from their colonial past, should be earnestly respected. Our unity in diversity is a blessing not a curse. There is much in it to unite us than to divide us.