Cameroon Separatists Open ‘Community Schools’

Anglophone separatists in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions have opened what they call ‘community schools’, in order to replace the government-run schools that have been shut for the last three years.

The government has urged parents not to send their children to these new establishments, claiming that none of the teachers there are trained or qualified.

Teachers and other professionals went on strike in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions in November 2016 over what they deemed a marginalisation of Anglophones by the majority French-speaking population.

In response the government shut down the majority of English-speaking schools.

Wilfred Wambeng, Cameroon’s basic education chief for the English-speaking Northwest region, said “[w]e have had meetings, especially with our lay private education agencies… We advise them to embark on an aggressive campaign”, referring to the ‘community schools’.

The following year, armed separatists began a guerrilla campaign against the government with the hope of breaking away and forming their own state. 

The United Nations has reported that around 2,000 have been killed and a further 500,000 have been internally displaced in the ensuing violence.