The school year in Cameroon started Monday with hundreds of schools in the troubled western regions reopening their doors for the first time in three to five years.

Anglophone separatists previously used threats to keep the schools closed, but some rebels, for the first time, are saying they should be spared from the conflict.

Cameroon’s government said several hundred schools reopened in its restive English speaking North West and South West regions.

Most schools in the regions have been shut down for three to five years, since the start of a separatist conflict to carve out an English-speaking state from Cameroon and its French-speaking majority.

The most senior government official in Nkambe, a western district, Ngida Lawrence Che, said at least half a dozen schools that were sealed by separatists in the 17 villages that make up Nkambe have reopened.

The government reports that separatists attacked or set fire to more than 200 schools between 2017 and 2019, and nearly all schools in the Northwest and Southwest regions were shut down while teachers and school children escaped to safer localities.

The Ambazonia Defense Forces, ADF, said to be the largest separatist group in Cameroon also, for the first time in 5 years gave instructions for schools to reopen.

The ADF however warned government troops not to set foot on any school campus in the restive regions adding that fighters have been instructed to make sure the national anthem of Cameroon is not sung in English-speaking schools.

Secretary of state to Cameroon’s minister of education, Asheri Kilo, said children in areas where fighters still prohibit education should be admitted in schools in safer areas.

She says the government will continue to deploy troops to make sure that all Cameroonian children in conflict zones have access to education.

There was no immediate word on how many students in the North West and South West regions had returned to school. For some, it will be the first time in class since 2016.

All public and private schools in Lagos State will resume for the 2021/2022 academic session on Monday, September 13.

This announcement was made by the state’s Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, in a statement signed by an assistant director, public affairs of the ministry, Ganiu Lawal.

The commissioner said the students of model colleges and upgraded schools are to resume in batches, noting that the SS2 students seeking placement into SS3 classes and who are accommodated at the schools’ boarding facilities are expected to resume on Sunday, September 19.

She said revision for this class will run from 20th to 26th September while promotion examination to SS3 class will start from 27th September to 8th October, 2021.

The commissioner said the newly admitted JSS1 students into model colleges are to resume on Saturday, October 2 for a one-week orientation programme, which she added will intimate them on the secondary school structure and modalities.

Other returning students in JSS 2, JSS3, SS1 and the newly transited SS2 in the various model colleges and upgraded schools are to resume on Saturday, October 9 while classes for these set of students will begin on Monday, October 11, 2021.

She revealed that the adoption of staggered resumption for model colleges and upgraded schools was due to the presence of 2020/2021 SS3 students currently writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) which she said will end on October 6.

The commissioner appealed to parents to abide by the new development for a smooth academic session, while calling on pupils and students to take their academics more seriously and devote more time to their studies.

British independent schools face fresh pressures on expanding their links with China as the authorities tighten restrictions on foreign influence in the education system and seek to more than halve the number of children educated privately.

Restrictions on visas for foreign teachers are also contributing to a slowdown in the establishment and expansion of private schools for Chinese nationals, dozens of which have links to well-known British institutions — including Harrow, Wellington, Dulwich College and Charterhouse.

The changes are part of China’s attempt to equalise education opportunity following the rapid growth in private schools, including those offering international exams and teaching in English as more students seek to apply to foreign universities.

The reforms follow recent draconian curbs on private tutoring services.

The central government in May stopped approving new private schools for the compulsory, or first nine of 12, years of education and last month at least four provinces said there was a goal to cut the proportion of children who attend such schools from more than 10 per cent to less than 5 per cent by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, some provincial authorities are imposing controls on the curriculum and the use of foreign textbooks in private schools.

ISC Research, an educational consultancy, has identified 66 schools in China with an affiliation to 29 UK schools.

These include 12 for children born overseas to Chinese citizens, who can hold foreign passports and Chinese identity cards until they have to make a choice of nationality when they turn 18.

There are also 52 bilingual private schools open to other Chinese citizens.

ISC said it was aware of a further 28 schools being planned.

The government policy does not explicitly target the schools for dual nationals or bilingual establishments, which comprise about one-fifth of China’s 15,000 private primary and secondary schools, but some have been caught up in the clampdown and leaders in the sector are expecting more.

The schools with foreign links are usually owned and operated by Chinese investors but pay fees to the affiliated British school, which often lend their brand name and provide some staff as well as materials and advice on teaching methods.

Seventy five per cent of students who sat for the final Uganda Business and Technical examinations have passed.

Releasing the results at their offices in Ntinda, Kampala, the executive secretary of Uganda Business and Technical Examination Board (Ubteb), Onesmus Oyesigye, said 11,334 (75 per cent) out of 15,019 students who sat for the exams passed. A total of 3,685 (25 per cent) students failed.

Speaking on the performance in the 2020 results compared to the previous year, Oyesigye said compared to November-December 2019 performance, there is a 3 per cent decline in pass rates from 78 per cent in 2019 to 75 per cent in 2020.

He attributed the 25 percentage failure rate on Covid-19 disruption on the education sector, which saw students spend months at home, while others failed to get internship placements.

The board also noted that out of the registered 16,144 students for the March final exams, only 15,019 showed up.

Oyesigye attributed this to absenteeism, the Covid-19 pandemic and failure to pay tuition.

Students sat for exams in various programmes, including Technical Advanced Craft, Technical National Certificate, Technical Community Polytechnics, Business Diploma and Business Certificate.

Overall, male students outperformed their female counterparts with 76 per cent pass rate compared to the latter’s 73 per cent.

For Uganda Community Polytechnic Certificate category, female candidates performed better than their male counterparts with 93 per cent pass rate compared to 83 per cent, respectively.

Oyesigye said the board registered 36 cases of malpractice, a figure he said is lower than that of 2019 (68).

The board recommended cancellation of 19 results out of 36 cases after the candidates were found guilty.

Presiding over the release of results, the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, whose statement was read by the State Minister for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo, asked Ugandans to embrace techincal vocational education training (TVET) at all levels.

The Ubteb chairperson, Silver Mugisha, asked the government to fast track the establishment of a TVET university to enable students who sit for Ubteb exams at diploma level to proceed to a higher level of learning.

He added that after securing an acre of land from Kyambogo University, the board sought approval of building architectural and structural plans which were approved.

The board is at the procurement process for the construction of the assessment center.

The government OF Kenya is keen to revitalise research and innovation to support President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda and Vision 2030.

Principal Secretary, State Department of University Education and Research, Ambassador Simon Nabukwesi, noted that significant resources have been made available through the National Research Fund to support research in higher learning institutions.

He said the Ministry of Education will continue to work closely with various government agencies such as the Higher Education Loans Board, Commission for University Education and the National Research Fund to ensure that tertiary institutions acquire and sustain effective capacity for knowledge generation, research, innovation and service to the community.

He said this at the ninth graduation ceremony at Kisii University over the weekend.

The Principal Secretary said Universities across the world and the country have leveraged technology particularly during the pandemic in redesigning learning spaces and pedagogy to enable this new model of education to thrive.

According to the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), more than 80 per cent of the world’s student population and around 14.3 million learners in Kenya have been impacted by the closures occasioned by the Covid-19 fiasco.

The Kisii University management said despite the tough times brought about by the pandemic and the general disruption it has had in the education sector, they were able to have 1,369 students graduate.

Among those who received their awards were 15 doctorates and 24 Masters Degrees.

The event was also attended by Transport Chief Administrative Secretary Dr Chris Obure.

Kisii University Acting Chancellor, Dr Mildred Mudany said eight years ago, the institution had an enrolment of slightly above 3,000 students but today, the student population stands at slightly above 20,000. Over 50,000 students have graduated in the previous convocations.

Dr Mudany expressed delight that out of the 15, who received their doctorate degree, eight are women.

She revealed that Kisii University emerged as the seventh most preferred University in the recent selection undertaken by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service, through the admission of 4600 students.

Vice Chancellor Prof John Akama said that since Kisii University received its Charter in 2013, it has endeavored to be a world class institution in the advancement of training, research, innovation and community outreach.