PTA fee in Cameroon: privatisation of education

PTA fee in Cameroon: privatisation of education?

The amount of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) contributions becoming more exorbitant, some parents are unable to pay and their children purely and simply dismissed from these schools yet public.

The situation is more recurent  as parents have to pay the same amount for as many children sent to school.

«  the public primary school where I enrolled my children, PTA fee stands at 10000 CFAF for the new students and 5000 CFAF  for the old ones » explains a parent.

At the Government Bilingual High School Mimboman, PTA fee stands at 36000CFAF very far above the contributions required by the state that is 7500cfaf for the secondary school and 2500cfaf for the primary school.

The texts which govern PTA fees in Cameroon are of two types : a presidential decree speaking of  » voluntary contributions of the PTA fee »  and two ministerial decrees of former ministers of secondary education which paradoxically make these contributions compulsory.

The question that arises is that of the legalities of these ministerial decrees. In principle and in law, a presidential decree is above a ministerial decree where does it come out that a ministerial decree makes compulsory what was only voluntary in a presidential decree?

When we know that some schools have up to 7000 students and even more, we simply realize that these funds provided by parents are considerable. A teacher from GBHS Ekounou talks of billions of francs CFA each year hence another question how are the funds manage?

The ministerial decree provides that: the funds be used for the payment of temporary teachers, sector supervisors, school guards, medical personnel, the construction of school laboratories, class rooms and so on. Unfortunately, some parents complain that they do not see achievements like the infirmary that is almost in existent in some schools even though they pay the fee every year.