Half-time at school, other special measures: it will be necessary to explain

The press release at the end of the Cabinet Council which took place by videoconference yesterday.

The Prime Minister, Head of Government, His Excellency Joseph DION NGUTE, chaired this Thursday, September 24, 2020 from 10 a.m. by videoconference, a Cabinet Council in which the Ministers of State, the Ministers, the Ministers Delegate and the Secretaries took part. State.

This consultation was devoted to assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020-2021 school and university year.
At the end of the introductory communication from the Head of Government, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, took stock of the preparations for the 2020-2021 academic year, set for October 15, 2020. He then indicated that the health measures planned to fight against the proliferation of the coronavirus in universities, follow on from and strengthen those enacted in June 2020, when the universities reopened. These include, among other things, the disinfection of amphitheatres and classrooms, the installation of hand washing points at the entrance to each amphitheater and teaching unit, the regulation of the flow of students in the campuses by the ‘splitting up of streams with large numbers of workers into several groups or the rotation of different streams within establishments.
At the same time, emphasis will be placed on deepening the research protocols initiated by researchers, with the aim of proposing suitable solutions to control the pandemic.
Speaking in turn, the Minister of Secondary Education first took stock of the 2019-2020 school year. It emerges that despite the disruption of the school calendar due to the health crisis linked to COVID-19, the results are generally positive. The program coverage rate was satisfactory and the official examinations went smoothly. As a result of the measures taken as part of the government’s response strategy against COVID-19, no cases of student deaths from this disease have been recorded.
The Minister of Secondary Education also said that in view of the current health context, the main challenge for the 2020-2021 school year, scheduled for October 05, 2020, relates to controlling the number of students. Thus, their number per classroom has been capped at 50 and the newly designed tables-benches allow for two students per bench. The educational approach that will be implemented is based on a three-level system comprising full-time courses, the half-time system and deepening of distance education. In addition, the barrier measures enacted during the resumption of educational activities will be renewed to guarantee health security in secondary education establishments.

Speaking in turn, the Minister of Basic Education mentioned that with a view to a peaceful resumption of classes on October 05, the arrangements already made relate in particular to the publication of a text setting out the measures and rules applicable in primary schools, the organization of educational activities around face-to-face teaching, in strict compliance with the health guidelines in force, the promotion of distance education with the contribution of the various communication media, the development activity booklets for better support for students in rural areas and the enactment of restrictive measures of access to schools in order to mitigate the infectious danger inherent in COVID-19.

The Minister of Basic Education stressed that 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 COVID-19 in schools.

The work of the Council continued with the presentation of the detailed report of the Minister of Public Health on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon. It turns out that the epidemiological situation to date shows 20,712 positive cases recorded in our country for 19,440 cured patients and 418 deaths, i.e. a case fatality rate of 2% and a cure rate of 94%. The Minister of Public Health indicated that the coming back to school and university and the imminent resumption of sporting and cultural activities require redoubling of vigilance and individually and collectively to ensure compliance with barrier measures, especially at this time when the ‘we are witnessing a resurgence of the pandemic around the world.

At the end of these presentations and additional communications from the Minister of Youth and Civic Education and the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, the Head of the Government