By Clovis Atatah
"What do you do before reading your textbooks," the Mayor of Akono asks the shy schoolgirl, about nine years old. "I wash my hands," the kid replies.
Such reading etiquette is rare in Cameroon. But in a sprawling rural settlement in the heart of Cameroon's luxuriant equatorial rainforest, most kids would give a similar response. These kids are not extraordinary.
They are simply products of an ingenious programme aimed at increasing literacy and raising the standards of education that the municipality of Akono has been experimenting for a year now.
In a country where even authorities lament about falling moral and educational standards, Akono offers a refreshing glimmer of hope.
Through this programme, all pupils and students in Akono have access to all officially prescribed textbooks almost free of charge.
Although Akono, with a population of 18,000 inhabitants is a rural council with limited means, the project is financed through external funding. It is part of the National Programme on Participatory Development, financed by the World Bank and other institutions. This programme finances sustainable projects by local communities aimed at fighting poverty.
Since the Akono Rural Council cannot expect to get finances for this project for eternity, it has set up a mechanism to ensure its sustainability. Basically, the council provides all the textbooks to all pupils and students.
The pupils and students in turn pay 25 percent of the total value of the textbooks. But they don't own the books. At the end of the academic year, they return the books to the council. In the next academic year, the council will not have to buy books again and the old books will be given to new students under the same terms. So, it is a kind of recycling system where students rent rather than buy textbooks. This way, access to textbooks is much easier.
The money so obtained is put into a sinking fund known as Fond Scolaire d'Akono. When there are new textbooks on the official book list, money is withdrawn from this fund to buy them. The fund is also used to provide scholarships to intelligent students admitted into Form One as well as refundable grants to students who do not have enough money to finance their university education.
To ensure that the textbooks remain in good condition over the years, pupils and students are required to recite reading etiquette daily like a mantra. The pupils are taught to always wash their hands before reading, to open the pages of their books in a particular way and to generally handle books with care. Students who damage or lose textbooks are required to replace them.
Since the project went operational, Akono has witnessed a remarkable improvement in the performance of her pupils at the Common Entrance Examination. When secondary school certificate examinations would be published, Akono authorities would also ascertain whether they are meeting project objectives at the that level.
Origin Of Project
On July 21, students participating at the Summer Camp organised by the World Bank visited Akono where Mayor Sollo Jean Williams and other council authorities involved in the project explained its genesis, conceptual framework and modus operandi. Mayor Sollo said the project was born out of a Strategic Development Plan for Akono. The plan is basically a multi-sectorial programme for the fight against poverty.
This plan was drawn up with the participation of all stakeholders, including inhabitants of the town as well as administrative authorities. The plan identified education as a major tool for development and, consequently, poverty alleviation. The people of Akono reckoned that if they build capacities, they would conquer poverty. Hence, the project to ensure the provision of textbooks to all pupils and students both in public and private schools.
Summer Camp participants subsequently visited the library and bookstore of the Akono council .
The students also visited two primary schools where they saw the appalling conditions under which the pupils are studying. At Ecole Publique Mezali for instance, the school had only three classrooms.
The walls, constructed with bamboo splattered with mud, had virtually fallen off. The school has just three teachers, including the headmaster. But to the amazement to the Summer Camp students this school scored 100 percent at the Common Entrance Examination.
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