For over four years, the ongoing socio-political Crisis in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon have led to a decline in access and smooth functioning of higher education in the regions. Higher education amongst other government and private sector activities in the Northwest have witnessed serious difficulties; thus impacting the smooth functioning in the region.
Much attention has been placed on the effects of the crisis on secondary and basic education; thus neglecting the impact on post-secondary education. The crisis has significantly hampered the growth of higher learning institutions in the region, with the private sector hardest hit.
Key reasons for instability in the sector, mostly leading to closures or relocation include burning of schools, kidnapping of lecturers and students for ransom and the killing of both students and teachers. With education being the main target by several armed groups, many private higher education institutions could not bear the cost of operating; with many students already relocated to other parts of the country for security reasons. There has also been cases of harassment of lecturers and students by both security forces and armed groups.
The University of Bamenda being the main state-run higher education institution in the region experienced a remarkable decline in the number of admitted students as compared to 2015 before the crisis. A significant number has dropped out as the crisis escalated.
Within the Bambili neighborhood, which is host to this university there has been a series of kidnapping targeting mostly students of the University of Bamenda on their way to school or in their hostels. Criminal gangs for some time have taken the advantage to molest students. Some students have been raped in their hostels by night. Money and academic assets have been taken from those who are trying to cope with the crisis.
The method of teaching and attending lecture in many higher education institutions have been of concern, because some students and lecturers have not been very effective because of fear. The situation further became challenging with the coming of covid-19.
Another key area hardly hit are developmental projects in most of the higher education institutions. Some projects have come to a standstill with little or no measures to complete it. Landlords who have built hostels around these institutions have not been able to have a return on their investment leaving many to have financial issues with banks whom they had taken loans to finance these projects. Most of the projects on construction of hostel in and around Bambili and Bambui have been halted.
Blessing and Ngum Herbert are amongst the hundreds of students who braved the odds to achieve higher education within the conflict period. According to Ngum, he is very equipped to face a very difficult world and working environment. To him, this is a skill and attitude that makes him stand above his peers who studied out of the crisis regions.
By Nchinda Nelvis Yuh
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