Female MP on Rescue Mission in Her Constituency
(Pictures :Above-GS Mapanja pupils dancing to welcome Hon .Monjowa & the wooden school building.Belowpart of material donation and Hon Monjowa speaking to the press)
ByChristopher Ambe Shu
Visiting Government School, GS Mapanja, an elementary school in Buea-Subdivison, Cameroon, you will be scandalized at the sight of the poorly constructed wooden structure that serves as the school. You will even be more scandalized when you enter one of the classrooms and see pupils seated on desks but their feet are "buried "in dust. No tables for teachers; classrooms without doors and windows; pupils without text books. This school, created in 2003, now has an enrollment of 61 with staff strength of six.
G.S Mapanja is just a good example of what many government schools in Cameroonian
villages are. They beg for attention and much more, quick attention.
“The State shall guarantee the child’s right to educaton.Primary education shall be compulsory. The organization and supervision of education at all levels shall be the duty of the state”, so reads part of the Preamble to Cameroon’s Constitution.
There is no doubt that the Cameroon Government has been fostering elementary education by creating schools, staffing and equipping them somehow to near standards-especially in urban centers.
Cameroon has a population of about 18 million people and its overall literacy rate is 67.9%, according to official statistics. The literacy rate here considers only Cameroonians aged 15 and above who can read and write.
But the same government must be blamed-and seriously too, for not living up to expectation in rural settings, where the majority of Cameroon’s population reside. It is not as if the government does not create schools there. . She does! But the big problem is that, when such schools are created -most probably after the villagers have repeatedly asked for, it is now the villagers’ responsibility to identify where the school buildings will be erected and to recruit temporary teachers (Parents- Teachers Association, PTA teachers). Even when a site is chosen, putting up a building for the school is a hard nut to crack. Usually, a private building is hired or donated to be used as the temporary school until when Government will construct a permanent structure. And the permanent structure, most of the times, takes many years to come. Then equipping the schools with the necessary didactic materials is another Herculean task. The poor villagers have no option but to keep crying for help, to whoever bothers to listen. Sometimes their cries are quickly attended to.
Hon.Monjowa Lifaka Emilia is MP from Fako West Constituency, where G S Mapanja is found. She is also Vice President of (the ruling) CPDM Parliamentary Group at Cameroon's National Assembly. As is the case in Cameroon, Government gives MP’s micro-project grants to offer assistance where need be in their different constituencies. MP’s are scheduled to receive this year’s grants in April. Each Cameroonian MP receives a yearly FCFA Eight million for that purpose, an amount considered too small.
It is also public knowledge that, some constituents have always accused their MP’s of embezzling the grant or mismanaging it.
But Hon Monjowa wants to be known as an exemplary MP. This second- term MP had since identified needy schools as her area of intervention for assistance. She had before donated materials and equipment to several nursery and primary schools in her constituency worth millions of FCFA, drawing accolades from the beneficiaries and the general public
On January30,2008 Hon Monjowa traveled to faraway Mapanja Village to “ rescue” GS Mapanja by donating basic school needs such as tables, chairs.uniform, exercise and text books, blackboard rulers and card board papers, bold markers etc.
Her donation was valued at about one million FCFA. The village was happy with the MP’s “rescue mission”. The MP also plans to donate basic materials to GS Bova still in her Constituency. What a rescue mission!
“I want to thank Honorable for thinking about this school. We feel honored by your donation”, said Acha Ruben Achu, head teacher of GS Mapanja
Mapanja villagers including their caretaker chief John Ekema Molua and the pupils sang and danced in praise of Hon Monjowa, who stressed the importance of educating children in any society and pledged continued support. She also promised to complete construction of the village community hall and to lobby the government to improve on the deplorable state of road to Mapanja, which has been the cry of the entire village.
Here is the MP‘s reason for always focusing on children’s education: “This is because education is the best thing you can give to children. Knowledge brings about development. When you invest in the education of children you are investing for the future”
She felt sorry for the poor school building. “I cannot be comfortable seeing children studying in this kind of environment. I‘ll talk to the Minister of Basic Education to try and make sure these children have a befitting structure”, Hon Monjowa told reporters who witnessed her donation. She was upbeat that Government would gradually address the expressed worries of Mapanja.
Isn’t it high time that other Cameroonian MP’s whose constituencies have schools without basic facilities and other people of good faith started emulating Hon Monjowa’s example? Isn’t it time for the Government of Cameroon to fully take its responsibility of guaranteeing children’s right to education? It is honorable to give birth but more honorable to take care of the child.
G.S Mapanja is just a good example of what many government schools in Cameroonian
villages are. They beg for attention and much more, quick attention.“The State shall guarantee the child’s right to educaton.Primary education shall be compulsory. The organization and supervision of education at all levels shall be the duty of the state”, so reads part of the Preamble to Cameroon’s Constitution.
There is no doubt that the Cameroon Government has been fostering elementary education by creating schools, staffing and equipping them somehow to near standards-especially in urban centers.
Cameroon has a population of about 18 million people and its overall literacy rate is 67.9%, according to official statistics. The literacy rate here considers only Cameroonians aged 15 and above who can read and write.
But the same government must be blamed-and seriously too, for not living up to expectation in rural settings, where the majority of Cameroon’s population reside. It is not as if the government does not create schools there. . She does! But the big problem is that, when such schools are created -most probably after the villagers have repeatedly asked for, it is now the villagers’ responsibility to identify where the school buildings will be erected and to recruit temporary teachers (Parents- Teachers Association, PTA teachers). Even when a site is chosen, putting up a building for the school is a hard nut to crack. Usually, a private building is hired or donated to be used as the temporary school until when Government will construct a permanent structure. And the permanent structure, most of the times, takes many years to come. Then equipping the schools with the necessary didactic materials is another Herculean task. The poor villagers have no option but to keep crying for help, to whoever bothers to listen. Sometimes their cries are quickly attended to.
Hon.Monjowa Lifaka Emilia is MP from Fako West Constituency, where G S Mapanja is found. She is also Vice President of (the ruling) CPDM Parliamentary Group at Cameroon's National Assembly. As is the case in Cameroon, Government gives MP’s micro-project grants to offer assistance where need be in their different constituencies. MP’s are scheduled to receive this year’s grants in April. Each Cameroonian MP receives a yearly FCFA Eight million for that purpose, an amount considered too small.
It is also public knowledge that, some constituents have always accused their MP’s of embezzling the grant or mismanaging it.
But Hon Monjowa wants to be known as an exemplary MP. This second- term MP had since identified needy schools as her area of intervention for assistance. She had before donated materials and equipment to several nursery and primary schools in her constituency worth millions of FCFA, drawing accolades from the beneficiaries and the general public
On January30,2008 Hon Monjowa traveled to faraway Mapanja Village to “ rescue” GS Mapanja by donating basic school needs such as tables, chairs.uniform, exercise and text books, blackboard rulers and card board papers, bold markers etc.
Her donation was valued at about one million FCFA. The village was happy with the MP’s “rescue mission”. The MP also plans to donate basic materials to GS Bova still in her Constituency. What a rescue mission!
“I want to thank Honorable for thinking about this school. We feel honored by your donation”, said Acha Ruben Achu, head teacher of GS Mapanja
Mapanja villagers including their caretaker chief John Ekema Molua and the pupils sang and danced in praise of Hon Monjowa, who stressed the importance of educating children in any society and pledged continued support. She also promised to complete construction of the village community hall and to lobby the government to improve on the deplorable state of road to Mapanja, which has been the cry of the entire village.
Here is the MP‘s reason for always focusing on children’s education: “This is because education is the best thing you can give to children. Knowledge brings about development. When you invest in the education of children you are investing for the future”
She felt sorry for the poor school building. “I cannot be comfortable seeing children studying in this kind of environment. I‘ll talk to the Minister of Basic Education to try and make sure these children have a befitting structure”, Hon Monjowa told reporters who witnessed her donation. She was upbeat that Government would gradually address the expressed worries of Mapanja.
Isn’t it high time that other Cameroonian MP’s whose constituencies have schools without basic facilities and other people of good faith started emulating Hon Monjowa’s example? Isn’t it time for the Government of Cameroon to fully take its responsibility of guaranteeing children’s right to education? It is honorable to give birth but more honorable to take care of the child.
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