“Technical Education must be at the center of things for Cameroon to emerge”

-Ottu David Orock-Principal GTTTC, Kumba

As an educationist who exactly is Ottu David Orock?

I was a trained Technical student from the then lone Technical College in West Cameroon; Government Technical College GTC Ombe. I completed there in the year 1985 and left for Government Technical High School Kumba in the year 1985- 1986 and had Baccalaureat in the year 1989. I worked with the Analyses Department at SONARA in Limbe for a year and with Camerounais Thermique Industriel in Douala working in the Thermal Department in SONARA, Limbe. I left because I had the interest in going back to school and taught in Family Technical College Limbe for one year during which I became the Vice Principal of the school in 1990. In 1994, I left the school when I passed my entrance into Higher Technical Teacher’s Training College known in its French acronym as ENSET in Douala. Between 1994 and 1997 I had DIPED 1 and continued to obtain DIPED 2 in 1999. From there, I was sent to Government Technical High School Nkambe where I worked for six years but in 1995-96, I was made the Chief of Works for the Industrial Section in GTHS Nkambe. In 1996-97 I was appointed Chief of Works and sent to Government Technical High School Alabukam where I was made the Acting Vice-Principal in 1998. In 1999 I was made a principal and sent to Government Technical College Kesham in Akwaya Sub Division. I spent four years as the principal of the school and the pioneer when the school wrote its first badge examinations and later moved to GTC Okoroba in the Eyumujok Sub-Division. After a brief stay there I was sent to Government Technical Teacher’s Training College, Kumba in 2013 to start the lone GTTTC in the Southwest Region of Cameroon.

How are the efforts that you have been putting in place streamlined towards solving the problems of technical education especially as far as English speaking Cameroonians are concerned?

I think my experience in the field is really counting because I went to a technical school which at that time was purely Anglo-Saxon in orientation. By the time I went to High School, a new culture was ushered in which we started writing Probatoire, Baccalaureat and our center was in Douala. So I have an insight of what it takes to handle the situation we have in hand. We are presently working to feed the students with what they need to compete fairly in the present educational dispensation in the technical sector. As such, we are looking into the difficulties that we face and what is expected of the technological innovations of today. In order to meet up with the Cameroonian dream of becoming an emerging economy in 2035 according to President Paul Biya, we are asking ourselves what we are supposed to do to emerge. Technical Education must be at the center of education for Cameroon to emerge because no country can develop without technology. We are telling the students not only to be able to read and write but to be able to use what they have learnt practically. They should not depend on only working with the Government Sector. At the level of GTTTC Kumba, the knowledge they get from here should not only be used to teach but to also build and fabricate.

Tell us about the History of the institution.

This is a new school created by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2012/200/904/PM of 4^th October 2012 and the Ministry of Secondary Education Decision Number 434/13/MINESEC/SECEN of 18^th August 2013. Because this school was created in an emergency situation the special competitive exam was launched for the school. This took place following a decision creating it. It was written in the same year and the results came out and school started on the 18^th of September 2013, two and a half months after other schools reopened. Presently we are functioning at a temporal site in a structure attached to GBTTC Kumba called CEFOC. We presently work in collaboration with other workshops in town since this temporal structure hasn’t got certain things that we need. There are however some department in the schools that we can boast of like Home Economics and Office Automation which we have the material and necessary training equipment within our reach. In other departments like wood works we have partnerships with wood workshops in town where we prepare our material and then do the coupling in school. In Industrial Maintenance and we also have some of the material and we come and do the finishing in school. We want to fit the students squarely in the context of the new technological innovations.

What trends have been noted as far as Technical Examination results are concerned and how does these affect the way you train your teachers?

Firstly, I want Cameroonians to know that the first orientation they had about technical education was wrong. They made us think that it was meant for dull students. Technical Education is meant for the best students who leave primary school. The reason is that when you go to secondary school, In General Education, you can specialize in a number of subjects but in technical school you are compulsorily doing everything which comes before you since you are not permitted to choose. In Electricity, you do the same subjects with somebody doing Sciences in General Education with technological as well as the arts subjects included. Technical Education as such needs a level headed person to be able to succeed. The reason why at first children were failing technical examinations was because parents thought they were sending dull children to come and learn a trade. The children who came there could not cope and as such failed in the examinations they wrote. They blamed the system for poor results instead of putting the blame on the poor quality of students that go for Technical Education. Clever students should go for Technical Schools and they will bring out what President Paul Biya requires for an emerging Cameroon in 2035.

Following the examination evolution we have seen that at first, examinations in Technical schools had very poor results but if you take the trend in Technical GCE they are performing well in function of the number who registered and those who passed. This is because those who were supposed to go to technical secondary school have started going there and the teachers are now those who give the exact material that the children need. That is what we are doing here; we are following the trend of Technical education in Cameroon and training the children who will be capable of teaching and giving the exact material necessary for the quality technical education needed for Cameroon.

What about the language problems and the tendency to translate questions and sometimes incorrectly?

Yes those problems exist. If I take for instance the Technical GCE, such a problem has never occurred because the questions which are moderated and proof read by teachers who are fit to do it and that is why those problems don’t come. Where problems come is in examinations such as the Probatoire, Baccalaureat and CAP. These examinations are run by the Ministry. What we are saying is that if questions are set in English and because Cameroon is a bilingual Country, a good technical question can be used by the French system of technical education and a good French question can be used by the Anglophones. They should use the competent people to translate those questions so that no ambiguity should exist in the questions and create problems of interpretation.

What are those specific problems that GTTTC as a new school is facing?

The problems are enormous and we have to fight to overcome the difficulties. For now, we need equipped workshops because looking at the new programme following the Competence Based Approach CBA, if you teach technology, there are aspects that you have to exhibit practically so as to permit the students see the theory and the practical. We are however struggling to cope with what we have. Hierarchy knows and since it is them that have created the programme they are working in order to put things in place. At our permanent site eight classrooms have already been constructed and eight classrooms are under construction. The Administrative block has equally been constructed while other parts of the school are still under construction. We are pleading that the workshops should follow immediately so that the theory and practical should be complete in order to attain the full technological innovations needed.

"Garbage in Garbage out is a perfect description of Cameroon at the moment”

Dr. Nick Ngwanyam, CEO Saint Louis University, Bamenda

-Doctor Louis Ngwanyam -CEO Saint Louis Biomedical University, Bamenda, Cameroon

Cameroon is in a Cul de Sac viewed from every perspective. As a very experienced personality in the health sector could you use your domain as a spring board to shed light on the reasons behind this situation?

Yes the bottom line is that we are not productive. There is a saying which goes that you cannot give what you don’t have. If you pretend to give what you don’t have then you are a fake. Cameroon is not productive because she doesn’t know how to produce. It boils back to the educational system from where everything is learnt. The knowledge base we are having in Cameroon is not productive knowledge. It is a system based on what was put in place in 1960 which allowed us to communicate with the colonial masters. Other countries with which we started at the same time like South Korea went out for Engineering and Technology so as to enable them to be productive. This made it possible to add value to what they already had. In Cameroon young people who leave High School and even the university can neither write letters nor solve problems. They cannot think in the abstract or get things done because the education that has been put in place does not trigger meditation.

In practical terms, what obtains in the average Cameroonian campus?

Students simply read the teachers’ notes and regurgitate the notes after which they are given a degree with no element of research. They don’t go out for themselves to find out how things work. As a journalist you must know the key questions of where, when, why, who and how. In our universities, we simply provide answers to these questions. For instance, Who was the first President of Cameroon? When did Cameroon gain independence? If you study like this you can never produce results or yield fruits. 

Studies should trigger meditation. They should be capable of brainstorming and making things happen. Why is it that developed and shorter banana species produce more than the tall wild species that we have in our villages? What do Scientists do to come out with improved species that come out with greater yields? What happens to produce a change in colour from green to red in a tomato? These are the kind of questions that our children should be asking. Brain tickling questions that push the machinery towards productivity? How can soap that is made from palm oil be used to remove palm oil stains from a shirt? Why is the road between Bafoussam and Bamenda in such a sorrowful state? This question will take them to issues such as the life span of tar that is used on our roads and the effect of fires that were burnt on the tar during political uprisings in our political history. Fire reduces the cohesive power of tar. Students should be capable of asking and having answers to the how and why of their daily lives.

Some think it is an attitude problem that presently disturbs Cameroon considering the fact that you have some very intelligent people in this country.

Cameroon might have some of the best minds. If you have Cameroonians who’ve studied out and returned home and copied what they have seen out as well as come home with the mind sets of the people where they studied then they will be as productive as any other creative set of people. But this is not dominantly the case. The thought process of the average Cameroonian is wrong and when this is the case, you will certainly produce something which is wrong. We’ve got more problems with our thought processes and if we don’t correct it we will never get out of our limbo. So I think we have a problem of attitude. We don’t know that our attitudes have got to be right for us to succeed and we think that we can always fake it. We must come back to the truth as the bible says that the truth shall set you free. The truth here is not just about believing in God but the truth in every aspect of our lives. We must be principled and so if we go against principle, we will be punished for it. On this issue of principle God sends rain to the farms of both the believers and the non believers alike. Back to principle; if you follow the ordering of the seasons then you will benefit from the rain fall but if you don’t then the rains will be of no use to you irrespective of whether you are a believer or not. To follow the truth involves being principled and when we don’t we pay the price that Cameroon is paying at the moment.

What about the fact that deserving Cameroonians hardly ever get anything in return?

This brings us to merit which is still another aspect of truth. There is this thing called GIGO in computer language. Garbage in garbage out is the perfect description of Cameroon at the moment. When we do our competitive examinations to send students to CUSS, ENAM, P and T and all sorts of professional schools, the question we should be asking is, are those the best students found in Cameroon? When we say that this year we have selected 150 students to enter the University Center for Health Sciences-CUSS, are those the best 150 in the country? Of course no. We have other ways of selecting which do not represent the truth and that’s where the problem lies. It is all about working with the truth and respecting the truth. If this is done, 80% of the problems of Cameroon will be corrected. You see the child of a peasant who is very intelligent sees the doors shut onto him while the children of some well placed  people who watch TV from the morning to the evening who cannot even write their names take their places. The country is going to collapse if we keep on doing this.

I trained as a Medical Doctor in CUSS but because I also had an opportunity to be trained in Nairobi and in London and I have the opportunity of traveling I can tell you that our health services are not doing very well. I’m using the health services as an example since other sectors are the same. Something is wrong some where and until we lay our hands on what is actually wrong then we will be dancing in circles.

We have about 6000 Medical Doctors and professors in Cameroon. If we were to do an experiment and go to Boston University and bring a professor in Medicine from there to come and test our Doctors and professors, the question is how many of us will pass that exam which is set following international standards? It’s a thousand dollar question. If health services in some countries in Western Europe are rated at 90% then what score will you give our health services? An honest answer to this question will reveal that even if we increase the number of medical doctors in Cameroon to 12000 a very little change in quality will be registered.

In specific terms what do you think South Korea, Singapore and Hongkong, countries with which we started out at the same time are doing that we are not?

They understood long ago that the key lies in proper education and also having the right attitude and character. These are things that we have neglected and we are going to pay dearly for them. 

Are you also of the opinion that colonial masters also contributed in the way Africa took off?

If I say yes, my answer will be 50% correct. Because if colonial masters are going away without showing you what to do to survive then it will take a long time for you to discover what it is that is important. They put us on the wrong track and we are studying the wrong things so that they could come back and continue to feed on us. Now that we have the means such as the internet from which to get the truth we should know what is important. We have our backs against the wall and we have to rethink our strategies real fast. It is time to export more than we import and to add value to our raw materials and create jobs for our youths. 

To be continued......

Police officers accused of usurping powers of legal Department and courts.

President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Justice Bechem Eneke- State Counsel for Muyuka Madame Mkamgoh Rose Epoue Nkamanyi- Attornney General Essombe Emille

The President of the Court of Appeal in Buea, Chief Justice Bechem Eneke has accused police officers of usurping the powers of the Legal Department and that of the Courts. He was speaking on Friday, September 4, during a special session at the Muyuka Court of First Instance which saw Madame Nkamngoh Rose Epouse Nkamanyi being installed as the State Counsel of the Muyuka Judicial Sub Division.

One of the highlights of this installation ceremony was the paper presented by Chief Justice Bechem Eneke focusing on Judicial Delays. Such delays the Chief Justice said had touches of infringement on the rights of people. Referring to the UN Charters on Human Rights as well as African Charters on Human Rights he drew attention to the fact that both these charters touch on the rights of people to a fair hearing and defense.

Justice in Cameroon he said was not yet fairly and speedily done. The reason behind these delays he said comes from flaws in the pre-trial and trial processes. With investigations carried out by the judicial police under the supervision of the State Counsel, things should always move on smoothly he said.

He however complained that Police officers had transformed their offices into temporary cells thus usurping the powers of the legal Department and that of the courts. This phenomenon which is enhanced by illegal arrests and detention he said should be stopped. Insinuated here was the fact that Madame Ngamngoh Rose Epouse Nkamanyi was going to go a long way to bring this situation to an end. In the search for justice he said, there is the need for a change of attitude.

The Attorney General of the Southwest Region Chief Justice Essombe Emille on his part presented a brief and rich Biography of the new state counsel for Muyuka. Madame Nkamngoh Rose Epouse Nkamanyi according to his presentation was born in Akum in 1968. After Basic Education she moved to the Comprehensive High School CHS Bambui in the Tubah Municipality where she obtained both the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Levels in 1984 and 1987 respectively. She eventually obtained a Bachelor Degree in Law ( Licence en Droit) in 1991 and a Post Graduate Diploma known in French as Maitrise before moving into the National Institute of Administration and Magistracy known in its French acronym as ENAM. After graduating from ENAM in 2001, she worked in Edea between 2001 and 2004 before moving over to Tiko where she worked as Deputy State Counsel. In 2010 she was called to the bench as Judge of the Court of First Instance in Tiko from where she was moved to Muyuka.

As the best way forward at this time when Cameroon and her neighbours are faced by threats of insecurity, the Attorney General said there should be collaboration between the administration and the judiciary. He equally proposed a direct relationship between the law and the preservation of people and their property and the society as a whole. As such, he said, freedom and security will be guaranteed for all citizens who subject themselves to the laws governing the state."The State Counsel should stand up to make sure that justice is applied to whoever. Irrespective of his height, riches and poverty, he is expected to be treated fairly and within the confines of the law.”

Meantime, the newly installed State Counsel explained that she’d been in Muyuka just for a couple of months and that her greatest challenge came from the fact that she was taking over from a man. “The cosmopolitan population took me as a woman since they feel that such a position should be occupied by a man. The humility in me brought them around and they saw that it is the rule of the law that must prevail. The team that is in place is very ready to help the population and all they need is collaboration. I have put in place a couple of measures to correlate the relationship between the Judicial Corp and the Administration. When I take a decision I think of the DO and consult him. The reverse should be true. So we work like a family.

A self effacing individual, the Chief Court Registrar Ngome George of the Muyuka Court who was in the heart of most of the activities that took place summed it up in the following manner; “It was a very colourful one. We put in a lot of effort to come out with the resounding success that we’ve had here today. There is heavy recruitment into the judiciary this time around. I want to think of Magistrates, Bailiffs, Court Registrars, Lawyers, notaries public among others. This is all an attempt to improve upon the quality of services in the sector. The ceremony of today was ordained by the laws organizing magistracy stipulating that they have to sworn in before taking over their functions. I think it was in keeping with   tradition and the texts regulating Magistracy in Cameroon.

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