Computer Science To Be Introduced In GCE

Interviewed By Pegue Manga

If things work out as planned, a new subject, Computer Science will be introduced in the Cameroon General Certificate of Education, GCE, examination. Augustine Che Mufor, an expert in electronic engineering, who initiated the project and drew up the syllabus for the GCE Board, explains in this interview the different contacts he has made with authorities of the Board.

“I sent the syllabus to the GCE Board and they gave a positive remark,” he says. Che also talks about his stay in Germany and the shabby treatment Cameroonians get from their Embassy in Bonn.

The Post: How long have you been living in Europe?

Che Mufor: I have been living in Europe for close to nine years.

What have you been doing?

I left Cameroon to go and study. I took the German language course and later enrolled in a university to study electronic engineering. I finished my Master's degree at the end of 2003, and now I work as a research scientist at the University of Technology in Brunswick. I will be defending my PhD in the near future.

Are you a computer engineer?

Not really. I studied in the Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. I specialised in electronics. Today, I am an expert in technology for semi-conductors for application in micro-electronics, auto electronics and speed electronics.

How do you intend to use your skills to help the ordinary Cameroonian?

Studies in Germany are organised in such a way that the student learns in a very wide scope. There are many things that we can do for our local population, especially when it comes to computing. Recently, I prepared a draft syllabus for the Cameroon GCE.

My intention was to convince the Cameroon GCE Board that computer science is a subject that is instrumental to the development of a nation. The starting point is to introduce the subject in the GCE so that students can develop interest in it so that by the time they get into university, they would be able to apply computing and computer sciences in their study areas.

Did the GCE Board accept your proposal?

The Board had been thinking of it because they had already introduced data processing in the Technical GCE. I began talks with Mathew Akoko personally because he is Deputy Registrar in charge of technical matters. I talked with him, about computing, not data processing. Data processing is just a small aspect of computing. It is just like secretarial duties.

Real computing is applied science, the background of which is necessary for real application. For example, if in the commercial sector, I explained to him and he seemed to have understood. He told me to prepare a syllabus. I worked with syllabus from London GCE, and some Cambridge exams, then I tried to work on that which suits our system.

The problem I have noticed in this country is that we pick up something from the West and try to implement it without tailoring it to suit our system. So, I designed the syllabus for application in our own environment.

Are you saying that in a not too distant future we are going to have computer science as a subject in the GCE?

I am very sure.

How soon?

It is the GCE Board to decide. I spoke to Akoko and he said they would like to meet with me during my stay in Cameroon, so that we could finalise the issue of the syllabus. I sent the syllabus about ten months ago and after going through it, they gave a positive remark. They were sure it would be instituted. I hope that is done this academic year.

Are there enough teachers to teach this subject?

We are going to discuss this with the GCE Board because it is a big problem. We do not have sufficient experts in computer science and the syllabus has been drawn up in such a way that the teachers need to have a background in computing. What happens in our system is that the people who go to learn, Physics, Mathematics and even the Computer Science at the University of Buea are not real computer scientists.

In any case, studies at the University of Buea in Computer and Computer Science are also a good background. We can organise seminars and get people with Bachelor degrees in Computer Science from the University of Buea and train them on how to handle this syllabus. So that they can drill the students towards real application, not theory.

Being the initiator, what do you stand to benefit from this project?

I am only helping my country. I think I am in a position to play a role in our society. If we succeed in introducing Computer Science in our schools, that will be gratifying for me.

How did you get to Europe in the first place?

Greener pastures can be looked at in different ways: it could be with respect to money, or the search for knowledge. I travelled to Europe as a student to study electrical engineering.

Was there a time you felt like abandoning your studies and returning home?

My first two months were quite frustrating. When I got to Germany, I realised that the impression I had back home was different.

What made it different?

Going to Europe as a student without enough money is a critical problem. There are many Cameroonians who end up not achieving any academic qualification because there are so many hurdles in the environment. Language is a problem and the idea of settling down and studying is another problem.

There are many intelligent Cameroonians who had good grades at the GCE end up without a degree in Europe. We are living in a very open society and one needs to organise one's self otherwise one can go astray. While studying also, we have to take care of our families back home.

You must have met many Cameroonians out there, how are they faring?

Faring is relative. If I consider myself as a reference point then I would say there are many Cameroonians who went out there for purposes of study. Some of them have succeeded while large numbers are really suffering. There are many who are not sure of attaining their goals and are not prepared to come back home.

So, how do they live out there?

Living in Europe is not a big problem. If you are living say in Germany, you need to feed, cloth yourself and pay your rents. There are jobs you can do to handle these requirements. If you have the papers.

So people do these jobs just to survive. Many Cameroonians have been misled by their compatriots out there called bush fallers. When they come to Cameroon, they give a different impression of the West as a paradise. Yet, when these Cameroonians go there, they are faced with the grim reality. They begin to regret it.

We hear the immigrants do running battles with the police and some even go into contract marriages to get their papers?

There are many Africans who are married to whites. There are stories of Africans who go into marriage for residence permits. Sometimes, it is a problem for the authorities to prove that these marriages are conceived to enable one of the spouses obtain a residence permit. The issue of residence permit troubles many Cameroonians, so they have to do what they think the can to get the permit.

Have you been in touch with the embassy?

When I went to Germany the capital was still Bonn. In late 1998 the capital was moved to Berlin. The Berlin which houses the Cameroon Embassy in 1976, was constructed by the Cameroon government. When the German embassies were also moved. But the Cameroon Embassy has remained in Berlin.

This embassy serves not only Germany but also Austria, Holland and other countries. We used to look at the embassy as a place where once can feed at home with the Cameroonian flag flying high up in the sky. But the irony is that Cameroonians get tormented in their own Embassy more than the torments they receive from the whiteman. Just to renew passport you are kept waiting for weeks. Before you get anything, you have to bribe.

How much did you give?

I can't estimate. But there are people working in the Embassy who receive money. There is somebody strategically placed there, who tells you that before you get you will have to give this amount. If you want to succeed you must behave yourself.

Is there a Cameroonian union out there?

Cameroonians have not been able to create a national union in Germany you have a lot of tribal meetings. There is an active SCNC meeting in Germany too, though I am not a member of the SCNC.

How old are you?

29, married with a child.

When you look at Cameroon, what annoys you most about the country?

There are many Cameroonians out there who are really patriotic to their fatherland but they find it extremely difficult to transform what they have learnt out there to tangible product. The system here is not encouraging at all. Even Cameroonians who were trained on government scholarships. They are now working for the white man.

Comments

[Ekwe Awasume,]

I am impressed with the views and observations of my fellow countryman(paysant; as we do call ourselfs abroad). That is the case with Germany. It was the only known bushfallers' nation widely known by Cameroonians. I wouldn't dare to talk about Britain. We all know how difficult it is to get an entry clearance to go across Queen Elizabeth boundaries. In the late 90s and early 2000 the route to Sweden was opened and many cameroonians made their way to this other part of Europe (the scadinavia)In Germany, the whites had long known and actually but not potentially interacted with the blackman. In the scandinavia especially in small cities the probability of a blackman wanting to refuse himself as a living being is close to 1. For those who managed their way without student status, they are bound to go underground if denied asylum. There are no jobs and even those who study find it difficult coping with the required computing skills in their institutions. Students go out especially on saturday nights to look for beer cans to recycle if they would dream having on a loaf of bread comes tomorrow. The Cameroon government should expect its nationals home a fortnight after the abatement or atleast establishing a trustworthy framework to solving corruption problems. Education is societal oriented. And if any patriotic Cameroonian should come up with a syllabus in one of the challenging areas of study then the G.C.E. board shouldn't hesitate to examine and adopt.

[Ekwe Awasume,]

I am impressed with the views and observations of my fellow countryman(paysant; as we do call ourselfs abroad). That is the case with Germany. It was the only known bushfallers' nation widely known by Cameroonians. I wouldn't dare to talk about Britain. We all know how difficult it is to get an entry clearance to go across Queen Elizabeth boundaries. In the late 90s and early 2000 the route to Sweden was opened and many cameroonians made their way to this other part of Europe (the scadinavia)In Germany, the whites had long known and actually but not potentially interacted with the blackman. In the scandinavia especially in small cities the probability of a blackman wanting to refuse himself as a living being is close to 1. For those who managed their way without student status, they are bound to go underground if denied asylum. There are no jobs and even those who study find it difficult coping with the required computing skills in their institutions. Students go out especially on saturday nights to look for beer cans to recycle if they would dream having on a loaf of bread comes tomorrow. The Cameroon government should expect its nationals home a fortnight after the abatement or atleast establishing a trustworthy framework to solving corruption problems. Education is societal oriented. And if any patriotic Cameroonian should come up with a syllabus in one of the challenging areas of study then the G.C.E. board shouldn't hesitate to examine and adopt.

[dango tumma]

there is no such a thing as caeroon
government, except you stop to ask your self
what cameroon, you referring to.
the french one or the english one.
why is the english one not able to feed itself ? why is the english one not able to build more university for itself? tar roads for itself. buiild International airports and power plant and seaports anf big ciyies for it self. then you will know that the culprit is not only the french cameroun, but the english one as well. who have decided to talk rather than act, tp partake rather than abstian in their own destruction, to cheer the french one ,rather than chase them away, lastly
to be submissive than riot for 30 days for the world to came to theit help.

[papajaff]

your ideas about improving computer studies in cameroon is great,that's what is espected of our brother's who acquire knowledge, to share with the less opportune, but cameroon being what it is, those reponsible to get this ball rolling into the gce board may require you to corrupt them . before it goes through. i can asure you that, those are some of hurdles you may have to entertained.More greece to your elbow as you continue to persuit these noble course

[HILARY AWO O NDOLE]

Pop pikin for condere don talk. boh go befour nda nwan no popo fan fan talk. we dei for u back.

[macojint]

God bless you Mr. Mofor for that initiative. Let us hope and pray the GCE Board acknowledges your good work and effort.

[nkwenti]

Encouraging Mr. Mofor. an example which should be followed. you are a true patriot. it is easy for us to point to the reasons why things cannot work, and we give corruption a chance when we don't try to push. let us invest in the positive. we hope for many more like you.

[Sparko]

You should all realize that, at this pont in time, taking computer science at the GCE is not the issue, but extending Information and Communication Technology, seems to be that. Could you all then defer that roof of a building and look first for a foundation for all young Cameroonians with a computer science know-how inclusive?

[Lifanda Nako]

Mr. Mofor.I think this step is a very positive one.It is good to sensitize those who intend to study Abroad on what awaits them.Many students are not well oriented before starting their or are confused thereby having problems in future.Well done.

[Awasum Marcel]

Computer science being the bases of Engineering as a whole,if introduced in the GCE syllabus is an indication of the modernisation of the educational system of Cameroon and worths encouragement.I found this course a little bit complicated during my first semester at the university of Duisburg (Germany), meanwhile students from other countries were OK with it since there already did it in thier respective high schools and this gave them an advantage during Cax laboratory work.If Cameroon would like to train engineers in the near future then she should start today without delay.
Awasum Marcel,
Computer Science and Communication Engineering student,
University of Duisburg, Germany.

[TABE KENNETH]

most of us junior students tought computer science(cs)had been an official subject already in the GCE exams cause teachers have being giving us some lecture on it. HOPE IT BE AN OFFICIAL ONE NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR with facilities for students GOD BLESS THE GCE board

[Atem Carl Pires Ashu]

Well Well Mr. Mufor,your interview and initiative to Cameroonians as a whole is excellent.but to me and the best of my knowledge without missing words,I suggest you came up with another lucrative idea on Electrical and Electronic Engineering because you are experts in the field.then for the Cameroonians out there as diaspora if they feel they are not comfortable out there they should kindly pack their things and come back to their fatherland its not obligatory that they must stay there and giving one complain to another.any Cameroonian diaspora complaining that Europe is not good for his/her younger ones behind is very selfish or consider as school dropout because there is no point in time that you are educational qualify in highly planed countries in Europe without skill jobs opportunities.for any cross examination on what i am saying should kindly get back to me via email: ppires88@yahoo.com or 0023777016598.
thanks

[nike shox shoes outlet]

Computer science being the bases of Engineering as a whole,if introduced in the GCE syllabus is an indication of the modernisation of the educational system of Cameroon and worths encouragement.I found this course a little bit complicated during my first semester at the university of Duisburg (Germany), meanwhile students from other countries were OK with it since there already did it in thier respective high schools and this gave them an advantage during Cax laboratory work.If Cameroon would like to train engineers in the near future then she should start today without delay.