Institutions in Bamenda Fine-tune
Conditions To Accommodate Economic Hardships!
By Francis Ekongang Nzante
Against a backdrop of very difficult times in the
English Speaking Regions of Cameroon which are hard hit by an unprecedented
hike in the prices of basic commodities and school needs, many establishments
are cutting down on fees and segmenting the payment of fees into installments
to ensure that these difficult conditions don’t keep too many children out of
school.
Registrar, SHIPS, Bamenda
This reporter caught up with Mr. Bonkishir Aloys
Fondreyuv, Registrar of Saint Michael’s Higher Institute of Professional
Studies at Upper Bayelle in Bamenda to get a feel of the situation and he said
things had been made easier for students who find themselves in a very
difficult situation imposed upon them by the crisis. Fees he said had been
slized down and were to be paid in installments. Hear him, “we are considering
the hard times parents are facing as the school reopening draws near. We will
as such take fees in as many installments as possible. This will involve
entering specific agreements with parents and students who come to us for
admission. Once both parties stick to their own part of the agreements the
students are free to attend classes.”
Mr. Bonkishir Aloys Fondreyuv intimated that the
idea of creating the Saint Michael’s Higher Institute of Professional Studies
known in its English acronym as SHIPS was hatched in 2009. Given that Cameroon
was an emerging country and that students graduating from the first and second
cycles of the establishment were graduating and finding it impossible to put
food on the table, the founders found it necessary to create this Higher
Institute of Professional Studies. The aim was to professionally empower
students graduating from their secondary school. It was also aimed at building
in the students the ability to take initiative and to create so as to
independently become creators and managers. The Registrar explained that the
approach was to engulf students from their Secondary School; Saint Michael’s
Academy of Science and Arts into the Higher Institute of Professional
Studies. These students were intended to
be empowered in order for them to be able to create jobs and employ people
instead of the other way round. Their vision he said was translated into the
good results that the school had in 2015. The results were exceptionally good
and one of their students of Civil Engineering who did urban planning stood out
exceptionally as the best student in the country at the time. “This student
today holds a Master Degree and is presently a PhD Research student. There are
a couple of them who constituted the group that produced the good results in
2015 who also travelled abroad to further empower themselves. This was a
concretization of the vision we had when SHIPS was created. Unfortunately, the
Anglophone Crisis set in a year after
and most of our dreams were shattered by
insecurity. However SHIPS is back on course today like most establishments in
Bamenda” the Registrar said.
SHIPS benefits from the services of teachers from Higher Institutions of learning in Bamenda with lots of experience in preparing students for HND, degree Programmes and much more.
SHIPS the Registrar said offers HND studies in
Business, Education, Home Economics, Tourism and Hospitality Management,
Engineering and Technology, Agriculture, Legal Carriers and Medical and
Biomedical Sciences.
SHIPS he
further said was also into Fashion, Clothing and Textile as well
as Bakery and Food Processing.
One of the
challenges that has been brought to bear on educational service providers by
the crisis is insecurity. Hinting at efforts put in to ensure the security of
students the Registrar said SHIPS campus which is located along New Road at
Bayelle was completely fenced with guards permanently on duty at the entry
point.
SHIPS CAMPUS
He didn’t fail to draw attention to the fact that
the establishment had a state of the art Science Laboratory and a Food and
Nutrition Laboratory that has been tested and confirmed by inspectors to be
among the best.
“We are a bilingual country and we have language
remedial courses for those who come in from the French background with just a
little mastery of the English Language. Be sure that we will fill up the
language gap and you will catch up as far as lectures in English are concerned.
As far as security guarantees are concerned, we have already made arrangements
for those coming in from foreign countries. Arrangements have been made for
them to be given affordable hostels in a very secured environment.” He said.
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