Hundreds of pupils in the Far North Regional Capital Maroua have fled from school following rumour that a serious vaccination campaign that would render them sterile was to be launched in school.

Because of this, a school that normally hosts over 900 pupils was left with just close to 400 pupils. Teachers and health officials have been making efforts to help this children come back to school even though the return is still timid.

At the Government Primary School Group 2 of Gaikama in Maroua, a teacher attested that he was in school early in the morning when suddenly pupils who arrived started running back home. He said some parents made the situation complicated by accompanying their children back home.

In order to prevent the situation from aggravating, the teacher went from house to house on bike convincing the parents that the said rumour was false. Most of the parents preferred taking back their children home to digest the shock and doubts.

This rumour comes just a week after another had gone viral insinuating that a vaccine meant to kill pupils will soon be introduced.

Source: CRTV

Government High School Fontem located in the Ambazonian State of Lebialem was burned on Friday, November 24, 2017.  Cameroon Concord News gathered from sources close to the French Cameroun administrative official that flames consumed a good part of the administrative building.

According to French Cameroun news agencies, the fire broke out on the night of Friday around 23:00. An alert was issued to people who were quick to react to save the other buildings of the high school.

The flames were reportedly violent and reduced everything in the office apartment to ashes.  One of the teachers who spoke to the media about the incident observed that the computers, chairs, tables and documents were completely consumed by the fire.

The so-called Sous-préfet of Fontem who visited the scene on Saturday morning declared that the origin of the fire is still unknown for the moment, but an investigation was opened to take stock of the situation . Nevertheless, according to one of the school’s discipline masters, the fire was orchestrated by those who want the doors of the institutions to remain closed. Since the beginning of the Anglophone crisis, many schools in the Federal Republic of Amabazonia have been ravaged by flames.

By Eyong Johnson

The controversial results for the 2017 session of ENAM released today Thursday the 16th of November in Yaounde had the names of President Biya and his two kids; Brenda and Junior.

In one of the most unprecedented action ever taken by a Francophone government minister, the ENAM results were cancelled barely two hours after publication. Tension is reportedly mounting in Yaounde deep within the ruling Beti-Ewondo clan.

We understand a war of words had erupted between the French Cameroun Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform and the Director-General of ENAM which witnessed a delay in making public the examination results.

This item is still developing

A fire destroyed the dormitory of the Presbyterian Secondary School (PSS) Bafut in the Bamenda County.  According to a police source, unidentified men set fire on the building on Wednesday  morning. The girls’ dormitory was heavily affected  with huge loss of school equipment.

The students were receiving lectures in the classrooms when flames erupted in the dormitory. A Bafut police spokesperson said all the students were safe and sound.  “At the moment we do not know the origin of the flames but we believe that it is a criminal act. The investigation opened by the judicial police of Bamenda will certainly prove that, “concluded the police source.

PSS Bafut had been closed for many months due to unrest in Southern Cameroons. After strengthening the security apparatus around Bamenda, the college reopened on August 2017.

By Rita Akana, CCN

UNESCO’s executive board has selected former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay as the new chief of the United Nations’ cultural agency.

Azoulay, who served as a minister under President Francois Hollande, narrowly beat Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the final 30-28 vote on Friday.

Azoulay must be approved by UNESCO’s 195 members on November 10.

The 45-year-old Azoulay will succeed Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian who has led the body since 2009.

The voting comes a day after the United States announced that it will withdraw from the UN’s cultural organization, accusing it of “anti-Israel bias.”

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday that Washington would establish an “observer mission” to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

“In this time of crisis we need more than ever to support, strengthen and reform UNESCO and not leave it,” Azoulay told journalists, saying she would modernize the agency.

“If I’m confirmed…the first thing I will do is to restore its credibility, restore the faith of its members and its efficiency so it can act,” she added.

UNESCO is known for designating world heritage sites such as Syria’s Palmyra, the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona and twenty-two sites in Iran.

Source: Presstv

The United States has announced that it will withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing the UN’s cultural organization of “anti-Israel bias.”

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday that Washington would establish an “observer mission” to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

“This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,” the statement said.

“US withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The United States will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time,” it added.

UNESCO, which has 195 member states, is known for designating world heritage sites such as Syria’s Palmyra, the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona and twenty-two sites in Iran.

The head of UNESCO Irina Bokova voiced “profound regret” over the US decision, calling it a “loss to multilateralism.”

“I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO,” Bokova said in a statement.

The US also withdrew from the organization in 1984 during the administration of former US President Ronald Regan, claiming it was biased in favor of the former Soviet Union.

Former US President George W. Bush rejoined UNESCO in 2002. The US stopped funding the body in 2011, after the organization accepted Palestine as a member.

US President Donald Trump is also reportedly considering withdrawing the United States from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which his administration accuses of being biased against Israel.

Source: Presstv

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

Some schools have remained completely closed in La Republique du Cameroun, despite vain attempts by the Francophone Ministers of Basic and Secondary Education to get academic institutions to begin classes in Southern Cameroons. Parents of children are in complete disarray in GHS Makoure and many other secondary schools in the Ocean Division and for good reason. Since the beginning of the school year, no teacher or even the principals of these government establishments have been visible.

Cameroon Concord News understands the governor of the South Region, Felix Nguelé Nguelé, completed a tour on September the 5th and announced on state radio and television that schools had effectively resumed. Cat calls have greeted the governor’s pronouncement with elites saying GHS Makoure never opened its doors on September 4th.

We learned teachers have not even returned to work three weeks after schools officially started throughout French Cameroun. In anger, the parents are pointing an accusing finger at Sieur Bikanda, the Divisional Delegate for Secondary Education. He is accused of having done nothing to improve the situation.

“The delegate wants to be the only elite in the area. His children are in Yaoundé and abroad studying in the best schools,” a parent said. The divisional delegation has however reacted saying, the situation is due to the fact that teachers were not assigned to the locality. In general, several institutions in the Ocean Division have assigned teachers who prefer to reside only in Kribi.

By Sama Ernest, CCN

The anti Anglophone Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo has told the Prime Minister and Head of Government that 80,000 of the 500,000 computers promised to Cameroonian students will be available as of November 2017. Fame Ndongo made the revelation during an extraordinary cabinet meeting that held on the 19th of September in the Prime Minister’s office in Yaoundé.

The controversial Francophone cabinet minister did inform Yang Philemon that he has put in place a transparent distribution mechanism that will take into account enrolment through the bio metric system in all the universities. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Higher Education, “The computers that students expect will be delivered to them from November on wards. The Ministry of Higher Education will simply have to dispatch the computers concerned to the students who will be enrolled beforehand by the bio metric system in order to avoid fraudulent or fraudulent distributions.”

Fame Ndongo and his higher education gang now say the computers should arrive faster than expected. Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo had made numerous declarations on the Biya Computer program but none has ever come out to be true. He promised the first wave by the end of December and then another delivery date was announced for the month of February 2017 and again deferred. Cameroon Concord News understands the devices are manufactured by a Chinese company that will also equip Cameroonian universities with digital technology centers.

By Sonne Peter, CCN