West Region: Fresh teachers strike paralyses classes in eight gov’t colleges!.

The strike action has been engaged by groups of teachers under the "On a trop supporté" (OTS) movement also known as ‘Operation Dead Chalk’. 

Teachers, under the said movement, which had during 2021/2022 academic year, held Yaounde authorities on their balls over grievances including demands for complete revision of the system to make the payment of salaries, advancements and other benefits less cumbersome.

The strike action, which left the regime edgy in 2022, battling to proffer solutions from all corners, is now said to be putting the new school year in jeopardy in parts of the West Region. 

It is at the moment being observed in schools in the Menoua and Nde Divisions of the West Region. At least eight government colleges are concerned as per a note issued by the Governor of the West Region, Awa Fonka Augustine. 

Images of teachers on various campuses carrying placards demanding for better working conditions and solutions to some of their grievances went viral on many social media networks.

Other images, which went viral, showed some classrooms with OTS written on the board by teachers who have downed their tools.

Fears are now rife that if urgent actions are not taken by state officials, the strike might also commence in other parts of the country where the grievances of the teachers are still to be looked into. 

West Governor puts SDOs on alert 

Wading into the worrying situation, the Governor of the West Region, Awa Fonka Augustine, in a note addressed to Senior Divisional Officers, SDOs, of Menoua and Nde Divisions, called on the administrators to engage urgent actions to thwart the ongoing strike to ensure effective schooling in the West Region.

Awa Fonka called on the SDO of Menoua, to ensure classes are once more effective in his area of command.

The Governor cited the cases of Government Bilingual High Schools Dschang, Santchou, Ngwatta, Zenmeh-Dschang and Government Technical High Schools of Penka-Michel and Balevengm, as well as Government Technical College Fongo-Tongo, where classes have been paralysed. 

In the Nde Division, Governor Awa Fonka said classes have also been stalled in Government Technical High School Bazou.

Awa Fonka expressed fears that the ongoing strike, if left “unchecked”, “could lead to a contagion effect and paralyse the 2023/2024 school year”.

“It is my honour to ask you to take urgent steps to put an end to the strike,” Awa Fonka instructed the SDOs, urging them to also file to him, with immediate effect, results of their actions to nip the situation in the bud. 

Revisiting measures ordered by Biya in 2022

It should be recalled that President Paul Biya, had waded into the teachers’ nationwide strike in 2022, rolling out a series of measures to respond to their concerns. 

This was through a release of the Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. 

Biya had instructed the concerned ministers to, among other things, ensure the payment of monthly salary complements to teachers not yet integrated, payment of non-lodging indemnities due teachers who are not receiving it, clearing of all payments from May 2022 in a progressive manner while taking into account promotion arrears, non-lodging indemnities and salary complements owed teachers.     

The moves also included sequential payment as from June 2022, of dues of advancement and reclassification, systematic integration of teachers, systematic submission of files of ENS and ENSET graduates, urgent treatment and integration of files already the Ministry of Public Service. The President had also ordered a balance sheet of files in the Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education as well as dematerialisation and simplification of procedures among others. 

President Biya had, before the aforementioned instructions, ordered the Minister of Finance, to disburse the sum of 2.7 billion FCFA to resolve some of the teachers’ concerns.  

Understanding dues owed teachers 

The earlier strike had resulted from debts of unpaid housing allowances of some 5,289 staff of the Ministry of Secondary Education, as well as debts arising from the partial integration of 20,449 staff of the same ministry. The staff had received only two-third of their wage, amounting to 17.6 billion FCFA, representing a total of 1 billion 759 million CFA francs per month. 

As for the salary arrears caused by the implementation of these two measures, government had said it intended to pay 28 billion FCFA last year, starting from the month of May 2022, with approximately 31.9 billion FCFA to be paid next year. 

Uneasy calm that returned on school campuses 

Normalcy had returned in schools across the country following government’s intervention to resolve the plight of striking teachers in 2022. 

There was absolute serenity in Secondary Schools as teachers, who had downed tools resumed work following the implementation of the Head of State’s instructions to address their grievances.

Representatives of protesting teachers had called off the protest. This was after consultations with the Minister of Secondary Education, Prof Nalova Lyonga, and other government officials. 

It had been revealed at the end of the consultations that some 20,448 teachers had so far received their full salary, while more than 5,000 others had benefited from accommodation allowances.

Also, at least 1,665 teachers were set to receive their first salary; while 750 got their family allowances settled. It was said that a total of 1,056 others had their appointment benefits settled. 

The President of the Collective of Teachers, Jacques Bessala, had then appreciated the level of implementation of President Biya’s orders to address their worries.