Southern Cameroons Uprising: Huge drop in number of GCE exam entries ¹

The General Certificate of Education has reportedly recorded a low registration this year as compared to previous years. Local media reports in Southern Cameroons say some 70,000 candidates have successfully gone through registration formalities. The figure is far below the 182,000 that registered last year.

Commenting on Tuesday February 28, 2017, the GCE Board Registrar Dr Humphrey Ekema Monono shied away from the worrying registration statistics in both the Bamenda and Buea provinces of Southern Cameroons but hinted that the Board was working daily for the smooth holding of the 2017 Session.

The chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate also observed that it was too early to know the exact number of candidates who have registered in West Cameroon but insisted on making public the figures next week.

The well-fed Registrar said the Board hopes to have some 100,000 after the Tuesday deadline. Dr Humphrey Ekema also revealed that vetting of questions for the 2019 session has started in Buea. However, it is still not clear whether the examinations will take place in the months previewed; May and June respectively.

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime has insisted that examinations this year must hold despite calls from protesters for boycott. A pro La Republique online news portal, Cameroun Info.Net recently hinted of the possibility of extension of the school year citing one Mr. Paul Goghomu serving at the Prime Minister’s office.  However schools have remained closed in Southern Cameroons and for those that are opened, classes are not effective.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from CIN