Visionary Reports

They have urged stakeholders to respect and uphold the fundamental rights of children to education and protection

The South West/ North West women’s Task Force (SNWOT) has added its voice to the call for resumption of schools in both regions. In a six key note points contained in a release, they regretted the setbacks to pupils and students in the North West and South West Regions following sociopolitical upheavals that led to ghost schools.

 Amongst the reason listed was the need to respect and uphold the fundamental rights of children to education and protection and to prevent them from further marginalisation for want of education. The release also indicated that three years of no school have been enormous sacrifice and the message cannot be underestimated. Another point indicated that North West and South West Regions will be missing out in the achievement of SDG 4 on education and related commitments. There was also a cry that children are being exposed to all kinds of malpractices which include drug abuse, sexual exploitation, child marriage, early pregnancy due to no school Describing the ongoing crisis as human centric, SNWOT explained that it is for a better future for the children as education is the only guarantee for having a befitting future.

For this to be possible, the group acknowledged, a number of key concessions have to be made. Asking key stakeholders to make these concessions come to pass, SNWOT called on them to uplift the ban on education and caution their fighters to stop attacking academic institutions, teachers, as well as students.

It also called on the powers that be to “free all students trapped in prison cells and camps and speed up the reconstruction and rehabilitation of schools affected by the crisis”.

The stakeholders, they went on, should also “ensure the security of pupils and students by ending hostilities and providing enabling conditions for safe schools”.

 SNWOT coordinator Omam Esther Njomo, who signed the press release on July 11, 2019 disclosed that pupils and students in the North West and South West Regions should know that it is their right to be educated so that they can improve on their human intellectual and other commitments. “The future of every nation belongs to the youth. Education is the key to any sort of empowerment. This is the reason why we want pupils and students to go back to school so that they will not blame us as parents for having neglected their education,” she said”. She encouraged parents not be scared, for it is their duty and obligation to ensure that children go back to school. She said SNWOT knows safety is a prime concern and they are working to see how they can guarantee safety.

It is on record that more than 80 per cent of schools in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon are closed, as the security situation and living conditions continue to deteriorate due to the ongoing armed conflict.