On working visit: Nalova Lyonga assesses effectiveness of digital device to curb absenteeism.

The two finger-print digital devices named Nalinov and Suivi Pédagogique have already been put to use in some schools in Yaounde and elsewhere in the country.

To ascertain the effective use of the devices, Minister Nalova Lyonga went visiting Government Bilingual High School, GHHS Yaounde, which is among the pilot schools for the project.

Accompanied by her close collaborators, Minister Nalova Lyonga was head of a delegation including Members of Parliament, MPs. 

The lawmakers who accompanied the minister are members of the Committee on Education, Professional Training and Youth at the National Assembly. They were led by the body’s chairperson, Hon Fandja Gabriel, MP for Wouri West. 

Other members of the delegation included Hon Njume Peter Ambang, MP for Ekondo Titi and Dikome Balue and Hon Majuh Nestus Fru, MP for Bamenda/Bali.

The minister had invited the lawmakers following her appearance at the National Assembly in November last year, during the which people’s representatives had questioned her on measures being taken to curb absenteeism in schools.

The visit provided the MPs first hand opportunity to better understand efforts by the Ministry of Secondary Education in ensuring effective presence in schools of teachers as well as measures to boost effective schooling.

Minister Nalova Lyonga who asked questions at every step of the way to be up to speed with the level of implementation of the project, explained that as representatives of the people, the lawmakers were natural partners of her ministry.

She later explained to reporters that: “You can see that we have involved our parliamentarian friends because we think that they are with the people and we are with the students. We think that we need helpers to take this message of what we are doing with the schools back to the villages. To educate the children is not just the responsibility of the teachers but that of everyone including the parliamentarians”.

The minister said she was: “So delighted that each time we invite them, they are always there. The president of the education committee came all the way from Douala this morning…now, we have just projected a film which presented how we are trying to reach the local communities apart from the regional capitals. We have shown them that children can have the same lessons that those in the cities are having without internet through the micro cloud technology. We don’t want a situation where the West is going ahead and Africa is staying behind”.

Asked if the manual method of monitoring presence of teachers in schools had become obsolete, Minister Nalova Lyonga, was of the affirmative. She was categorical that her ministry can’t be left behind in the era of technological advancement.

“…there were shortcomings. We are trying to use the different methodologies that technology has brought to us in order to advance. Africans must love advancement. We can’t be the people who love to be behind. When there is something new, we have to jump and catch it. There is an improvement,” she said.

“With this device, you just need to place your finger and it takes your image… in fact everything and no one else can do so in your place because it will reject it,” she added.

Enter Hon Njume Peter

Commenting on the substance of the visit, Hon Njume Peter Ambang who is a member of the Committee on Education at the National Assembly, said he was marveled by what he discovered during the visit.

The MP representing Ekondo-Titi and Dikome Balue told journalists that: “What I have seen today… is like something in Europe. This is fantastic. This what we call taking initiative”.

“This programme going to enable us to get the teachers not only effective but they will be able to reach the level they are expected to reach. It is going to control effective presence. There is a difference between being present and being effectively present. Effective presence means doing what you are supposed to. So, this is what this programme is all about,” he said.

He has pledged that “at the level of National Assembly, we are going to accompany you [the Minister]. You deserve our support. We are going to work very hard to see that your budgetary allocation is increased”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3707 of Wednesday February 18, 2026