Defense minister calls for vigilance ahead of school resumption.

The Defence Chief gave the charge while chairing a high-level security meeting in Yaounde yesterday. 

The special security assessment meeting, which gathered security chiefs from across the country, was attended by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji; the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence in Charge of the National Gendarmerie, Galax Yves Landry Etouga; the Delegate General for National Security, Martin Mbarga Nguele and the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence in Charge of Ex-Servicemen and War Victims, Koumpa Issa.

The Secretary General at the Ministry of Defence, Said Kamsouloum and a representative of the Director General of the Directorate General for External Research, DGRE, were also in attendance.

Speaking during the gathering, which was partly opened to the press, Minister Beti Assomo commended the concerted efforts of stakeholders in the education sector for the resounding success recorded during the just ended 2022/2023 school year in spite of security concerns in parts of the country.

He said the Yaounde security meeting was holding on the esteemed instructions of Head of State who is also Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces.

“On Monday September 4, students will return to schools…while university students and students of higher institutions of learning will follow suit immediately and progressively,” Minister Beti Assomo noted. 

He added that: “Mobilisation and preparation in families, schools and universities are gaining traction to give this particular moment in the life of the nation, its full significance despite the difficult international environment affecting the economies of countries across the five continents including ours”.

The minister then disclosed that government has taken appropriate measures to ensure an effective start of the new school year.

This, he said, has been done by mobilising all actors in the education system nationwide “despite certain slight and insidious demobilisation campaigns reported in certain parts of the country”.

He said two weeks to the start of the school year, it was logical and appropriate to take pulse of the security situation of the country. 

“We are delighted with the smooth running of the 2022/2023 academic year as the curtains were finally drawn with the publication of the last official examination results,” he said, stating that: “To this end, the Head of State instructed me to officially convey to you, his congratulations for the perfect supervision of the academic year 2022/2023 from the start of the school year in September 2022 until the end of the official exams in all the ten regions of the country”.

“The Prime Minister, Head of Government, and my colleagues respectively in charge of Basic Education, Secondary Education and Higher Education extends through me their sustained gratitude for the wonderful supervision of official examinations especially in the delivery of test and examination materials particularly in regions where security risk was high,” he concluded.