Basic Education

Introduction

The major formal role of basic education is teaching the pupils to read, write and do arithmetical calculations. Alongside these basic skills, other aspects are learnt. These are:

• Doing exercise (sports)
• Socialisation and learning to live and work together
• Learning norms in the society
• Moral and religious upbringing

In Cameroon, basic education is accomplished, when a pupil sits in for and passes in the central First School Leaving Certificate Examination (FSLC). This is an entry requirement for some professions that can be learnt, mostly through apprenticeship in the informal sector or by attending a rural artisan centre (SAR/SM). Alongside the FSLC-Examination, the Common Entrance examination is written. This examination serves entry into secondary education. While the FSLC has either a pass or fail, the Common entrance categorizes participants who pass in lists A (very good), B (good) and C (average). The common entrance examination is not relevant when one plans to do professional training after primary school.

Pre-School Education (Nursery school)

This is the first level of formal education. The entry age is 3-4 years and pupils take 2-3 years to complete. There are many nursery schools (private and public) all over Cameroon. In pre-school children learn through games, music and together with other children to build their social, language and self-control skills. Most of all they learn from what they can see and touch.

Primary Education

This is the second level of formal education, and the last cycle of what we call in this book basic education. The duration of the primary cycle is six years. The statutory and only admission requirement is the age of 6 years, regardless of whether the child attended nursery school or not. The end-of-cycle certificate is the First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC) for the Anglophone sub-system and the Certificat d’Etudes Primaires (CEP) for the Francophone sub-system.

While at the end of primary school the Government Common Entrance Examination serves as a competitive exam to test the child’s eligibility to be admitted into a Government Secondary school, some private schools too, do their admission in line with the common entrance examination results, while others design their own tests that children write before they can qualify for an interview or admission.

The curriculum of primary schools is subdivided into competences as seen in the table below:

In review, the subdivision of subjects into competences is a foundation that is further developed at secondary school level. When pupils are observed and accompanied accordingly, the parents, teachers and care takers can already discover a particular skill or talent that predisposes the child to a particular competence or subject. This may be the first indication of a profession that the pupil will later pick up in life. However, the participation in all the competences is vital for the holistic development of each individual.

In review, the subdivision of subjects into competences is a foundation that is further developed at secondary school level. When pupils are observed and accompanied accordingly, the parents, teachers and care takers can already discover a particular skill or talent that predisposes the child to a particular competence or subject. This may be the first indication of a profession that the pupil will later pick up in life. However, the participation in all the competences is vital for the holistic development of each individual.