Implementing educational change in Cameroon : two case studies in primary education

• Main Author: Tosam, Ful John
• Published: University College London (University of London) 1988
• Subjects: 372.96711
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.630722

Since the Cameroon nation came into being in 1961, it has been engaged in efforts towards harmonizing two distinctly different educational traditions it inherited from the colonial era, the one, French-oriented, and the other, British-oriented, while at the same time, working towards better quality schools. However, the main thrust towards meeting these objectives thus far, has been in primary education where two main separate and on-going attempts at educational change are being undertaken in both educational traditions in the country. This research is based on case studies of these two experiences, and attempts to provide a holistic appraisal of the strategies adopted thus far, towards implementing change in Cameroon primary education. The one experience, the Institut de P6dagogie Appliquee sa vocation Rurale (IPAR) began in 1969, and is embodied in two projects (IPAR-Yaounde and IPAR-Buea) which aim at the harmonization and reform of Cameroon primary education, while the other, the Support to Primary Education Project (SPEP), began in 1984, and aims at improvements in the training and support system for primary school teachers in four of the country's ten provinces (one anglophone, and three francophone). The IPAR projects have not yet been implemented in schools, and by design the SPEP does not directly involve schools. The appraisal of these experiences comprises an analysis of their significance in Cameroon primary educational change, and their organization, management and accomplishments thus far. Three broad perspectives of the concept of institutional development or institutional analysis viz, the intra-, inter-, and extra-institutional analytical perspectives, have been adopted as the analytical framework for appraising the performance of these projects, using an essentially illuminative methodology. In this thesis, the concept of "institution" is used broadly to refer to governmentwide administrative functions including such entities as project management units, while "institutional development" or "institutional analysis" concerns the organisation and management of the various project systems, and the significance of these experiences in Cameroon primary educational change. The intra-institutional development perspective provides an analysis of the resource allocation (personnel and material) and management of the project unit, the inter-institutional development perspective provides an examination of the influence of other institutions in the administrative bureaucracy on the performance of these projects, while the extra-institutional development perspective provides an analysis of the pertinence of project ideologies in relation to the broader aims of harmonizing and reforming Cameroon primary education. In conclusion, problems of implementing Cameroon educational change epitomized by the two projects are highlighted and discussed, and suggestions made towards thinking about existing and alternative strategies in Cameroon educational change, in general.