By Doh James Sonkey
The Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo has congratulated Vice Chancellors and Rectors of the State Universities for a smooth start of the 2023-2024 academic year. The Chancellor of Academic Orders, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo was speaking as he chaired a session of the University Coordination Commission took place last October 16, 2023 at the Higher Teacher’s Training College Yaounde.
Prof Fame Ndongo also saluted on behalf of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, the Vice Chancellors and Rectors of the State Universities for their exceptional commitment to ensure the coverage of programmes as well as the progressive meeting up of the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 [NDS 30].
In his opening speech, Higher Education Minister, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo expressed gratitude of the entire University community to the President of the Republic, H.E Paul Biya for prescribing the new University governance and for supporting the higher education system by promulgating Law N°2023/007 of July 25, 2023 on the orientation of Higher Education in Cameroon.
He stated that “Apart from taking into account the agenda 20-63 of the African Union, the new orientation of higher education integrates the problem of daily anthropology of the implementation of the New University Governance notably, the categorization of Higher Education Private Institutions, classification of staff, the putting in place of the University-Enterprise etc.”
‘‘The university as a place for training, research and innovation is influenced by the dynamism of the global society.’’ The Minister of State underlined.
The 11 Heads of State Universities also examined 4 points on the agenda including; the issue of the recognition of the equivalence of diplomas of online universities and training programmes, linking State Universities to the digital world: challenges and perspectives, special presentations from Heads of University Institutions on the preparation of the draft law of application for the new orientation law on higher education: setting up of the university-enterprise, National Student-Entrepreneur Status, and its fundings, other matters: signature of conventions between State Universities and Private Institutions of Higher Education.
Talking reporters, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, Prof Manga Horace Ngomo said ‘’at the University of Buea, professionalization is an old concept. It has been the policy for the past years aimed at allowing those non professional courses which are classical courses to add into them those ingredients that ensure that the graduate from those courses become professionals. We have courses that are professionals by themselves such as computer engineering, medicine, journalism.”