Coronavirus: in Cameroon, here are the practical details of the start of the school year

All pupils and students return to school respectively on October 5 and 15, in a context of risks linked to the epidemic of the coronavirus (Covid-19). For the Cameroonian government, the objective of this school and academic year 2020-2021 is to welcome all learners in a secure and serene environment.

Also, the “strict” health protocol put in place provides, among other things, for the respect of barrier gestures, social distancing, the wearing of masks for staff, pupils and students, or even the disinfection of schools and universities. A protocol to be adapted according to the different levels of education.

For nursery and primary, the Minister of Basic Education, Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, says that in addition to the health rules enacted, special arrangements have been made with a view to a “peaceful resumption” of classes.

These relate in particular to the publication of a text setting out the measures and rules applicable in schools, the organization of educational activities around face-to-face teaching, the promotion of distance education, the development of booklets. activities for better support for students in rural areas and the enactment of restrictive measures for access to schools “in order to mitigate the infectious danger inherent” to Covid-19.

“Additional measures are envisaged in the short, medium and long terms at the administrative, educational and health levels such as the decongestion of schools, the reorganization of school time and the strengthening of preventive measures” against the disease, indicates the member of the government.

For her secondary school colleague, Pauline Nalova Lyonga, the challenge for this new school year is to control the numbers. Thus, the number of students per class is capped at 50 and tables-benches have been newly built to arrange two students per bench.

The pedagogical approach that will be implemented is based on a three-level system: full-time courses, the half-time system and deepening of distance education.

As of September 23, Cameroon officially recorded 20,712 confirmed cases, including 19,440 people cured and 418 deaths. While the epidemic is “under control” in the country, the Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie, affirms that the return to school and academia requires “to be extra vigilant and to ensure individually and collectively that the barrier measures are respected”. Especially at this time when we are witnessing an upsurge in the pandemic around the world.

Source le360afrique.com