Biometric census prompts review of 11,000 education ministry employees ⁰

Cameroon’s Ministry of Secondary Education (Minesec) has launched a major review of its workforce following a nationwide physical and biometric census conducted in early 2026. After consolidating the data, the ministry asked more than 11,000 employees to clarify their administrative status within 14 days. Through the exercise, the ministry is doing more than updating its records. It is also exposing the scale of the weaknesses that continue to affect its human resources management system.

In a series of notices signed on June 15, 2026, Minister Pauline Nalova Lyonga called on several categories of personnel to report to the relevant services of the ministry to clarify their status. The figures released by Minesec paint a troubling picture. The ministry identified 5,659 employees reported by their supervisors as having abandoned their positions, 392 employees classified as absent or deserters, 1,319 personnel reported to be living outside the country, and 3,172 employees whose administrative status is considered “unknown.”

One of the most striking findings concerns 392 individuals who continue to receive salaries from the ministry despite reportedly not belonging to any of its official structures. That figure alone highlights one of the operation’s main objectives. Beyond verifying attendance, Minesec is also seeking to regain control of an administrative and payroll database whose reliability now appears seriously compromised.

The personnel concerned have 14 days from the publication of the notices to submit the required documentation. The file must include, among other documents, census forms generated through the biometric platform and validated by supervisors, a certificate confirming effective presence at the workplace and indicating attendance levels and administrative status, a detailed account of the employee’s administrative situation over the past three years, a copy of the recruitment document, and a recent payslip. The ministry warned that any missing document will result in the rejection of the application.

The strict nature of the procedure reflects the scope of the operation. The ministry is no longer focusing on isolated irregularities. Instead, it is reviewing cases that could affect career management, actual staffing levels in schools, and the use of public funds.

The physical and biometric census that triggered the process took place nationwide between March 9 and April 8, 2026. It covered personnel working in schools as well as employees on training assignments or seconded to other government institutions. Officially, the goal was to establish a reliable picture of the workforce within the secondary education system. The initial findings, however, suggest that the exercise has revealed a deeper problem involving administrative traceability.

The operation comes at a time when the education sector already faces significant human resource challenges. For years, the administration has struggled to monitor staffing levels, fill certain positions, and retain personnel. These issues have been compounded by growing migration abroad among teachers and other public servants, although the figures released by the ministry do not indicate where the employees identified as living outside the country are located.

That is what gives the exercise a significance that goes beyond disciplinary concerns. Minesec is not simply dealing with cases of job abandonment or prolonged absence. It is also trying to determine who actually belongs to its services, who is physically present, who continues to receive a salary, and how these situations were allowed to persist administratively.

In that sense, the biometric census has become a tool for restoring control. It allows the ministry to compare its records against the reality of employee attendance, assignments, and administrative positions. At the same time, it reveals the extent of the administrative disorder that routine procedures had evidently failed to address.

The ministry presents the operation as a way to clean up personnel records, secure data, and improve human resource management. But the figures already made public show that it is also a test of the administration’s own credibility. When a ministry is forced to ask more than 11,000 employees to justify their status, questions inevitably arise about its actual control over its workforce.

The review could lead to disciplinary measures, administrative regularizations, and a broader cleanup of personnel records. More importantly, it should help the ministry distinguish between employees who are effectively serving in their positions and those whose administrative, professional, or payroll status now requires closer examination.

At Minesec, the biometric census no longer looks like a routine monitoring exercise. It is already emerging as a sign of deeper structural weaknesses in the management of secondary education personnel. Through the irregularities it has uncovered, it also serves as a reminder that staffing challenges are not only about teacher shortages, but also about the state’s continuing difficulty in determining precisely who still belongs to its own workforce.

Source: Sbbc