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http://www.irinnews.org/report/100902/boko-haram-hits-north-cameroon-schools
Cameroon – Boko Haram Hits North Cameroon Schools – Girls’ Education
Nigerian refugee children at school in north Cameroon, where
recurrent Boko Haram attacks have forced school closures.
Photo: Otto Bakano/Iran
YAOUNDE,
1 December 2014 (IRIN) - Nearly 70 schools in Cameroon’s Far North Region have
been forced to close, are damaged, or operate intermittently as a result of the
recurrent cross-border raids by Nigerian Boko Haram insurgents, officials say.
The 69 affected schools (mostly primary schools) are in Logone and Chari,
Mayo-Sava and Mayo-Tsanaga departments of the Far North Region, which lies
across the border from Nigeria’s northeastern heartland of Boko Haram. In
Mayo-Sava, for instance, 20 out of 30 schools are not operating since the start
of the new school year in September, said deputy-prefect Ibrahim Koulagna.
“Boko Haram attacks on villages and schools have forced students and teachers
to flee. There are many displaced families in the region. This displaced
population is now occupying other localities like the central towns of Kolofata
and Mora,” Koulagna told IRIN.
Boko Haram militants have repeatedly attacked northern Cameroon, abducting
foreigners and locals as well as raiding police and border posts. Yaoundé
authorities have beefed up their military presence in the region and the army
recently claimed killing over 100 of the group’s fighters. The military in
September said it had killed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau - a claim
dismissed by the insurgents.
“We are losing students each time there is an attack on a village even if it is
several kilometres from here,” said Christophe Barbah, a school master in
Kolofata area in the Far North Region.
Dire education standards worsening
Just a handful of government teachers assigned to the Far North Region remain
in their posts. “In 2014, more than 200 trained teachers did not take up their
posts in these localities and many seek transfer to other places due to
insecurity,” an official of the Ministry of Basic Education told IRIN.
The official, who did not want to be named, voiced worry that education
in the Far North was in serious jeopardy not only because schools in the region
were being shunned by teachers, but that no additional funding was being given
to schools absorbing pupils from other establishments.
“I am the only government teacher left here on a regular basis,” said Barbah.
“Because of my status as the head teacher, I cannot leave my post…
“We have resorted to seeking assistance from
some educated young men and women in the communities to teach the children. But
we have to motivate them with money if we want to keep them committed to the
work. This is not always possible because most parents in this region are very
poor and can barely afford food for the children to stay in school.”
“Education
has been targeted by these attacks because Boko Haram has often left messages
warning school authorities in the region”
Joseph Ampoam, a teacher who fled violence in Fotocol area near
the Cameroon-Chad border, said he has decided to stay in Maroua (the Far North
Region capital) rather than risk his life by going to work in the community.
“We had no peace at work because the fighting was not far from us. The recent
attacks extended right up to the village where I was working so I escaped to
Maroua town. I learnt that students do not want to come for school and my
school has not been operational since the start of the school year [in
September],” he said.
Migrating for safety
In Mayo-Sava Division, hundreds of students and their families have fled from
schools near the border to those in Kolofata and Mora urban centres.
Deputy-prefect Koulagna said that in August they registered over 3,600
internally displaced people, but many more could not be reached for
registration, he noted.
“Most of the displaced families are now living in towns and the number of
children in [some] schools has doubled, but there are many others who cannot
access schools,” Koulagna said. “Education has been targeted by these attacks
because Boko Haram has often left messages warning school authorities in the
region.”
Boko Haram literally means “Western education is forbidden.”
Military spokesman Col Didier Badjeck told IRIN that a recent creation of an
army division in the Far North, and military equipment received from the US,
Germany and Israel, would bolster the fight against Boko Haram.
But the brutality being unleashed by the insurgents on communities is likely to
have a deeper impact in Cameroon’s most deprived region.
“The short- and long-term implication will be enormous. The quality of
education is bound to worsen and many youths will miss out on the opportunity
to be at school and may end up being brainwashed into joining militant groups
as a result of idleness,” said Mahamat.