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Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Technology Faculty of Education University of Port Harcourt
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Inheritance according to Investopedia (2013) has been defined as all or part of a person’s estate/assets that is given to an heir, once the person is deceased. While discrimination has been defined by Web Finance (2013) as follows;
• Bias or prejudice resulting in denial of opportunity or unfair treatment regarding selection, promotion, transfer.
• Unequal treatment provided to one or more parties on the basis of mutual accord or some other logical or illogical reason.
Inheritance based on the above definition is a very important aspect of a family and can affect the distribution of wealth since it has to do with passing on of rights, titles, debts, property when an individual dies. The implication of this is that families who have a high amount of inheritance transmit more to their children which means that they are more likely to own homes than those who did not inherit.
Women form the majority of the world’s poorest people and the number of women living in rural poverty has increased by 50% since 1975. Women work two/thirds of the world’s working hours and produce half of the world’s food yet they earn only 10% of the world’s income and own less than 1% of the world’s property. In some countries women unlike men, cannot dress as they like, drive, work at night, inherit property or give evidence in court an article by the office of the High commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR 2013).This could be classified as discrimination against women.
The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women adopted in1979 by the United Nations General Assembly, has defined discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.(CEDAW, 2000)
In spite of the efforts made by different organizations, women’s property rights are violated. Chief among them are discriminatory laws and customs, biased attitudes, unresponsive authorities and ineffective courts, low level of awareness of their rights, the time and expense of pursuing claims, and the social stigma of being considered greedy or traitors to culture of they assert their rights. NGOS that work with these women also face harassment for their work (Win Africa 2013)
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• Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights states the principle of non/ discrimination on grounds of race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status.
• Article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which calls on state parties to eliminate all forms of discrimination against Women and to ensure the protection of the rights of women as stipulated in international declarations and conventions.
• The African Platform for Action and the Dakar Declaration of 1994 and the Beijing Platform of Action of 1995 call on all Member States of the United Nations, which have made a solemn commitment to implement them, to take concrete steps to give greater attention to the human rights of women in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination and of gender/based violence against women. • The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325(2000) on the role of
women in promoting peace and security
• The Constitutive Act of the African Union and New Partnership for Africa’s Development, relevant Declarations, Resolutions and Decisions, which underline the African States to ensure the full participation of African Women as equal partners in Africa’s development.
• The protocol to the African Charter on Human and people’s Rights on the Rights of women in Africa Article 21(2003) which gives a widow the right to an equitable share in the inheritance of her husband’s property. The protocol also protects the girl child by stating that Women and Men have the right to inherit equitable shares. This provides an equal inheritance rights for female and male children.
The United Nations in its Resolution 1998/15 in UN/HABITAT (2006) urged governments to amend and repeal laws and policies pertaining to land, property and housing which deny women security of tenure and equal access and rights to land, property and housing. Encourage the transformation of customs and traditions which deny women equal access to rights to land, property and housing and adopt and enforce legislation which protects and promotes women’s rights to own, inherit, lease or rent land, property and housing.
The effort being made by the United Nations and various organizations to prevent women from being denied access to inheritance, exploitation, subjugation and oppression has resulted in finding out community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli local Government area of Imo State, Nigeria.
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class position in the society, since it has to do with material accumulation, which was not consumed from one generation to the other. This means that the advantages and privileges of some people at the time of birth can be linked to inheritance while the disadvantages and fewer privileges of others at the time of birth can also be linked to inheritance.
In most African countries the female child is not given equal opportunity as the male child to inherit property or any form of wealth from their late parents estate, because property is viewed as belonging to men and should be under the care of a male guardian who could be a father, husband, brother or brother in/law, especially under the customary law. Effort made by various International Organizations, to curb the discrimination of the female child shows that, curbing it has to start with the communities. This has necessitated the need to find out how community leaders perceive inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo States
The purpose of the study is to find out community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. In specific terms the study intends to:
1. Find out the difference between male and female community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children.
2. Determine the difference between educated and non/educated community leaders perception of inheritance discrimination against female children.
3. Determine the difference between socio/cultural norms and community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children.
The findings of this study helped to throw more light on the impact of the activities of various International human rights Instruments on communities. It showcased the fact that more work has to be done if women are to enjoy any form of inheritance rights. There is need for intensification of programs that will ensure public enlightenment of Women on their fundamental human rights as citizens of Nigeria.
1. What is the difference between male and female community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo state?
2. What is the difference between educated and non/educated community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Imo State?
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1. There is no significant difference between male and female community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children.
2. There is no significant difference between the educated and non educated community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children. 3. There is no significant difference between socio/cultural norms and community
leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children.
Inheritance discrimination against women could be explained in this sentence stated by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing (2002) thus; in all most all countries, whether developed or developing, legal security of tenure for women is almost dependent on the men they are associated with. Women headed households and women in general are far less secure than men. Very few women own land.
Discrimination against women in Nigeria has been traced by Olagbegi & Afolabi (2004) to the patriarchal Nigerian society which readily adopts the legal system which is favorable to the relegation of women to the background. The male/dominated society prefers the application of some of those discriminatory aspects of the Customary and Sharia laws which adversely affected the status and positions of women in the society.
The above statement has been buttressed by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (2006) which states that inheritance succession in Nigeria is patrilineal with the exception of some communities. It is so because it is believed that a daughter has no right to succeed her father’s estate or property because she is expected to get married and leave her parents home, and so she cannot inherit land because that will mean transferring it to another family though there are some exceptions.
A customary practice in the South East of Nigeria known as Nrachi Nwanyi allows a man who has no son to keep one of the daughters at home to raise children to succeed him. Once the ceremony has been performed the daughter becomes a man. Among the Ijaws in the South/South of Nigeria, an unmarried daughter enjoys the same rights of inheritance with her brothers while in Efik, a daughter whether married or not has the right of succession.
Benschop (2004) states that where statutory national laws recognize women’s rights to land, housing and property, traditional values prevail amongst judges, police officers, local councilors and land officials. They often interpret statutory laws in what at present are understood to be customary ways, as a result of which women are deprived of the rights they should enjoy under statutory law.
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while in Christianity inheritance is patrilineal. The promised land is passed on from one Jewish father to the other but there is an exception in Number 27:1/4, where the daughters of Zelophehad came to Moses and asked for their father’s inheritance, as they had no brothers and in verses 7/11, he said that the Lord grants that if a man has no sons then his daughter may inherit in this order: a man’s sons inherit first, daughters if no sons, brothers if he has no children.
Inheritance discrimination is not peculiar to Nigeria. In Bangladesh according to Sultana (2010), the socio/cultural values and norms has a strong influence on the issue of women discriminations due to the existing patriarchal social system. In matters of marriage, divorce, maintenance and inheritance, women are deprived of equal rights. Men always inherit more than women living most of the rural women in Bangladesh landless since very few can own property under their names.
In Malawi, according to the Wills and Inheritance act of 1937 (Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights 2003), property is supposed to be distributed according to the wishes of the deceased if there is a will, but if there is none the customary laws take over which leaves little to women and children if a husband dies.
In Nepal, Steinzor (2003) states that some aspects of their law are discriminatory, especially the one that deals with daughters returning their inheritance upon marriage.
Crowley (2011) perceives inheritance discrimination as a factor that leads to poverty by stating that women and children suffer disproportionately from shocks when their rights to household resources, including land, are mediated through men. Direct access to land minimizes women’s risk of impoverishment and improves the physical well being and prospects for their children.
Efforts have been made in the statutory laws of Nigeria according to Ezeilo (2011), to erase the inheritance discrimination against women such as Land use Act of 1978 which prohibits the application of any customary law which prohibits, restricts or regulates the devolution on death any particular class of person or the right to occupy land for the purposes of depriving any person of any beneficial interest in any such land other than the right to occupy same, or depriving him or her of the right to the proceeds of sale thereof to which he or she may be entitled under the rules of inheritance or any other customary law.
In spite of these laws, Ezeilo (2011) points out that it is significant to observe that lives of the majority of Nigerians are governed by customary laws. Not surprisingly, about 80% of disposition of property are settled under customary law. Since customary laws are generally weighted against women, their rights of inheritance suffer unduly in the face of systematic gender discriminatory and oppressive rules.
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women. However she stated some problems faced and efforts that can be made as follows;
• Ensuring Women’s rights is part of the democratization process.
• Many women lack the awareness that there are statutory laws applicable to them. • Improvement will come if attitudes towards women and social norms are
addressed.
• Gender concerns are most effectively addressed when they are linked to broader discussions and national development.
• Efforts to improve property and inheritance rights are hindered by a general lack of political will and the slow pace of legal change.
• Change must begin at the local level and effort should be made to reach isolated communities.
Literature review on inheritance discrimination suggests that curbing inheritance discrimination must begin at the local level. Community leaders have been blamed for encouraging all forms of discrimination meted against females. With all the efforts made by international organizations toward curbing inheritance discrimination, the perception of community leaders is pertinent.
The descriptive survey design which sought to find out community leaders perception of inheritance discrimination against female children was adopted in this study.
The study population was made up of all male and female community leaders in 12 wards that make up Mbaitoli Local Government Area.
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Systematic random sampling technique was used to select (4) council wards and 20 villages from the study population while proportional stratified sampling technique was used to select 40 participants comprising of 20 male and 20 female participants from the
villages.
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point Likert/ type scale of strongly agree (SA) 4 points, agree (A) 3 points, disagree (D) 2 points, and strongly disagree (SD) 1 point.
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The questionnaire was validated by three experts in the Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Technology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
The reliability of the Inheritance Discrimination Assessment Scale (IDAS) was determined using the split half method for a measure of its internal consistency and correlated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and a reliability coefficient of 0.82 was established and considered high enough for the study.
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Data was analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation. Paired sample t/test and one/way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
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Results of the findings are presented in table 1, 2, 3, with Hypothesis.
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There is no significant difference between male and female community leaders perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.
Since there are two leaders perception option on the inheritance discrimination against female children (Female leaders and Male leaders), then independent t/test was used to test the hypothesis. The results are shown in Table 1.
&: Independent t test comparisons of male and female leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children
Gender N Χ SD T df Sig/level
Female 19 59.53 6.535
/0.107 35 0.916 Male 18 59.78 7.780
Significant 0.05 level, Critical t = 2.02
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hypothesis is accepted. The interpretation of this is that both genders strongly agree that the inheritance discrimination against female children is very high.
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There is no significant difference between educated and non/educated community leaders perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo state.
A one/way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis. The results are shown in Table 2.
(' Means, Standard Deviations and one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of educated and non educated communities leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children (i.e. Areas of Qualification).
Educational Qualification N Χ SD
NCE 4 58.75 1.500
B. Ed 17 59.53 7.811
M.Ed 2 61.00 2.828
Others 14 59.85 7.068
Source of Variation
Sum of
Squares Df
Mean
Square F Sig.level
Qualifications 7.733 3 2.578 0.048 0.986
Error 1790.700 33 54.246
Total 1798.432 36
Significant 0.05 level, Critical F = 2.92
The result in Table 2 shows that M.Ed qualifications have the highest mean scores of 61.00, followed by others (59.85), M.Ed (58.53) while NCE qualification have the least mean scores of 58.75. The calculated F/value is 0.048 and since it is less than the critical F/value of 2.92 at 0.05 significant levels with (3 and 33) degrees of freedom, it means that the mean qualification scores of the communities leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children do not differs significantly (p > 0.05). This implies that community leader’s qualification does not influence leadership perceptions of inheritance discrimination against female children. Both educated and non/educated community leader’s perceptions of inheritance discrimination against female children are similar.
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There is no significant difference between Socio/cultural norms and community leaders perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo state.
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)' Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Paired Samples t test of Socio/cultural norms and Total leaders perception
N Correlation ( R) Means
Std. Error
Sig/
level Pair 1 Total/Norms 37 0.026 51.378 1.237 0.878
N Χ SD T df
Sig/ level
Total 37 59.65 6.535 41.529 36 0.000
Norms 37 8.27 7.780
Significant 0.05 level, Critical t = 2.02
The results in Table 3 indicate that the calculated r value is 0.026. This implies that a relationship exists between Socio/cultural norms and community leaders’ perception, since the significance level of the calculated r value (0.878) is greater than 0.05, it means that null hypothesis is therefore accepted. Also, the Paired samples t/test shows that the calculated t/value of 41.529 was found to be greater than the critical t/value of 2.02 needed for significance at 0.05 alpha level of significance (with 36 degrees of freedom). With this result, it therefore implies that there exist disparity in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo state between Socio/cultural norms and community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children.
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The study sought to find out the difference between male and female community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children. The result obtained showed that there is no significant difference between male and female leader’s perception of inheritance discrimination against female children. Investigation on the difference between educated and non/educated community leader’s perception of inheritance discrimination against female children, revealed a strong, positive and significant effects on educational qualification, while the findings on the effect of Socio/cultural norms and community leaders perception of inheritance discrimination against female children showed that there exist disparity between Socio/cultural norms and community leaders’ perception of inheritance discrimination against female children in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo state.
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The educational implication of findings is that since the customs of the people is a major factor preventing female children from inheriting. Effort should be made to create social awareness in the curriculum of schools which will portray the disadvantages of disinheriting female children which range from inability to support their families, social stratification or class position in the society.
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also be linked to inheritance there is need to create awareness for women to know their fundamental human rights which includes insistent on being part of family inheritance and seek legal help if denied of such rights.
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Based on the results of the study it can be concluded that both genders/sex strongly agree that the inheritance discrimination against female children is very high. Also, community leaders’ perceptions have significant influence on Socio/cultural norms. The community leaders’ perceptions for both educated and non/educated leader’s perceptions on inheritance discrimination against female children are similar.
1. Public enlightenment on the Fundamental Human Rights of Women is necessary as most women are not aware of their rights.
2. Setting consultation centers where women who have been denied of their rights could lodge complain so that government can intervene.
3. Scholarships for women to acquire education should be encouraged since education increases the level of awareness of women on their rights.
4. The different decisions of International human rights instruments should be included in the Curriculum of Schools in Nigeria.
5. Government should provide legal aid for the poor who have been denied their Inheritance Rights.
African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (2013). Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women.
http://www.achpr.org/instruments/women/protocol. Retrieved on 5/5/13.
Benschop, M. (2004). Womens Rights to Land And Property. UN/HABITAT
http://www.unhabitat.org/tenure Retrieved on 5/5/13.
CEDAW (2000) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw Retrieved on 5/5/13.
Crowley, E. (2001). Empowering Women to achieve food security. International Food Policy Research Institute. Washington, 20006/1002.
Ezeilo, J. (2011). Laws and Practices Relating to Women’s Inheritance Rights in Nigeria. Women Aid Collective. Enugu: (WACOL).
Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (2006). Initial Country Report on Implementation of AU Solemn declaration on gender equality in Africa Nigeria: Abuja
Investopedia (2013). Inheritance. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inheritance.asp
Official journal of the Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt.| www.jeda-uniport.com 306
Olagbegi, O. & Afolabi, B .(2004). Actual Women Situation in Nigeria. Nigeria: Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF)
OHCHR (2013) Combating discrimination against women. http:/ /www.hrweb.org/legal/cdw.html. Retrieved on 6/5/13.
Steinzor ,N .(2003). Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights: Improving Lives in a Changing Times. U.S.A.: Development Alternatives Inc.
Sultana A. M. (2010) Socio/ Cultural dimension of womens discrimination in rural communities. Ozean Journal of Sciences. 3(1) 2010 ISSN 1943/2577
UN/ HABITAT (2006). Women’s Equal Rights to Housing, Land and Property in International Law. Nairobi: UN/HABITAT
United Nations Rapporteur on Adequate Housing (2002). UNDOC.E/CN.4 2002/59. Web Finance (2013). Discrimination. http://www.businessdictionary.com/
definition/discrimination.html. Retrieved on 5/5/13. Win Africa (2013). Win Inheritance Now.
http://www. winafrica.org/faq/womens/property/rights/in/sub/saharan/africa Retrieved on 6/5/13
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Department of History, Centre for Africa Studies University of Buea, Cameroon
Research Scholar: University of South Africa, Pretoria. [email protected], [email protected]
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The German colony of ‘Kamerun’ was partitioned in 1916 and administered as two Mandates and Trusteeships of the League of Nations (L.O.N) and the United Nations (U.N.) respectively by Britain and France between 1922 and 1961. The final phase of the independence of the territory was achieved on October 1, 1961 when the British ended their trusteeship over Southern Cameroons. The territory had in a plebiscite organized on 11 February that year, voted to reunify with the French sector which had obtained independence on 1 January 1960 as La Republic du Cameroun. Reunification warranted the development of a concrete political and socio/economic frame work that would not only ensure the positive utilization of the gains from the two colonial systems but also guarantee the development of an authentic Cameroonian identity in various sectors of life.
As far as education was concerned, the British and the French administering authorities had operated two systems of education distinct in matters of policy, structure and content at all levels. Reunification therefore imposed on the new nation an urgent need to restructure education in a way that will ensure that one colonial system does not dominate the other; that will mitigate the overriding influence of the two colonial heritages; that will assail the various state and cultural affiliations and most especially, one that would develop into a unique and authentic system of education that will inspire a sense of adherence to a single Cameroonian identity.
Using the historical analytic method, content analysis and textural reviews, the paper exposes the practical differences in educational structure in the two colonial spheres and the efforts made to develop an authentic Cameroonian system between 1961 when reunification was achieved and 2001 when the application of the 1998 law on education went into force. The paper posits that for more than fifty years, the application of reunification in matters of education is still an issue of circumnavigation. It also demonstrates that the development of a national system is still illusory and that it is more appropriate to talk of the co/existence of the two colonial heritages than a Cameroonian educational system.
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emphasizing the extension of educational opportunities to the entire population in the union alongside man power development, the forging of national unity has always been a major preoccupation of reunification.
Reunification implies the coming together of two previously autonomous systems, the dissolution or blending of these systems for the purpose of establishing one common system that would foster unity in all facets of life. It is often expected that those establishing the union would set up one central system which would not divide the allegiance of the citizens. In this way the new system would not permit the continued loyalty to the erstwhile regions or systems because such an allegiance is apt to breed discordance and separatist tendencies among the constituent units (Ray and Bhattacharya, 2005). Brief, the members of the reunified state are expected to prepare and embrace a totally new system which although picking up good qualities from the old systems is thought to be completely different from them. In terms of service delivery and structure the new system should go a long way to meeting the demands of the reunified entities better than any of the previous systems. Thus the establishment of a new system becomes the ultimate fall out of reunification. This is what is called the homogenization or the synchronization of previously autonomous, functionally different systems, in favour of a system having a unique national character (Hoosen, Butcher, Khamati, 2009). Areas of attention often include; national goals and philosophies of education, curriculum content, educational structures, policies, legal frameworks, examination regulations, organization and certification, quality assurance and control.
Harmonization has become the major term adopted to fulfill the demands of reunification of the educational systems getting into the union. The specific purpose being the establishment of a synchronized system as a strategy for strengthening the capacity of education institutions to meet many emergent needs. Through innovative forms of collaboration amongst the various stakeholders in the union, education can systematically be improved against common agreed benchmarks of excellence, thereby facilitating the mobility of students and teachers across the cultures being harmonized. The aim is to have similar programmes, structures and curricula for enhancement of a productive and creative human resource for the united socio/political systems.
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In East Africa article five of the treaty of the establishment of the East African Community Education (East African Community, 2012) clearly states that in order to promote the achievements of the objectives of the community, partner states agree to undertake concerted measures to foster cooperation in education and training within the community. Apart from agreeing to co/ordinate their human resources, develop programmes and policies, the member states have agreed to also harmonize curricula, examinations, certification, and accreditation and training institutions through the joint action of their relevant national bodies in charge. In this region since 1998, harmonization has moved from theory to practice as the states concerned have actually integrated and harmonized the provision and training services through harmonized curriculum and established regional organizations and institutions such as the East African National Educational Council. Although unity of curricula has not yet been achieved, the treaty setting up the East Africa Community Education noted that it would be preposterous to completely rule out uniformity in this regard (as per the working definition of harmonization) (East African Community, 2012). Consequently, the target is the adoption of a common school structure and programmes for the whole region in the near future.
UNESCO (1962:43) has clearly made known three types or levels of harmonization of education. The first option is for the various stakeholders to adopt the system in place in one of the member states seen as more proficient and or efficient than the others. This may not be a popular option as none of the states would be likely disposed to give up their system if the others are not doing so too. The second option is for the stakeholders/member states to run the same programmes in their various languages after harmonizing structures and curricula. The third option is that a completely new system could be introduced beginning with the lowest class or level and continuing year by year until an entirely new local system comes into being. The EU and the East African Community seem to be adopting the second option by establishing an increasingly networked and interrelated group of curriculum and examination systems, linked in a way that they demonstrate overlapping, inter/connected and comparable logics that are capable of influencing each other across the partner states.
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In 1922, the League of Nations was formed to ensure world peace and prevent the occurrence of future wars. Article 22 paragraph 5 stated that the peoples of Cameroon would be placed under the mandate of the League of Nations. Although Britain and France accepted the General provisions of the League of Nations, it was evident that France intended to administer the territory as an integral part of the French overseas empire. As part of the 12 point Mandate Agreement that ensued in 1922, Fanso(1989:60) recounts that Britain and France amongst other things declared their intentions to be responsible for “… the promotion of the material and moral wellbeing and the social progress of their inhabitants.” The Council of the League of Nations accepted the terms without amending any article and on 20 July 1922 conferred the territories to their respective powers; each of these powers administering the colony guided their administrative and educational policies. These policies became so diverse that by the time of reunification, the territories were so different in outlook and development. These differences were to pose great challenges to the reunification of the two inherited systems and have impeded the adoption of an authentic or unique Cameroonian national education system since then.
As rendered in Ngoh (1996), France strongly believed that the partition of Cameroon was not provisional and so moved on to establish an autonomous but effective administration for their sphere. The educational system which they established was not based on any new policy specifically for the territory although her legal connection with the League of Nations and United Nations called for that. Throughout their stay in Cameroon, the French believed that their acceptance of the League of Nations Mandate and United Nations Trusteeship to administer Cameroon had many implications; first amongst these was that France should lead the indigenous people to a superior stage of civilization. This made her morally obliged to use her national genius and talent to accomplish the mission she accepted in 1922 and 1945. This and many such believes justified her argument for the exclusive use of the policy of assimilation in Cameroon and other French overseas territories.
Assimilation aimed at creating a native/Cameroonian elite class by eliminating African culture and replacing it with French culture, language and civilization. This was with the calculation that, if an African elite was created, it could be used to convince their kith and kin to accept French rule and tutelage. In 1903, the then Governor/General for French West Africa explained this twofold objective of French education in Africa; According to Moumouni (1968), the elites were trained to become auxiliaries of the administration in every area and the masses were to be educated to civilize them and assimilate them into the French way of life.
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that if a territory lay adjacent to another territory of a mandated power, the former could be incorporated into the latter, in order to effect the smooth customs, fiscal and administrative union between the territories. (Aka, 2002: 26) On the basis of this agreement, the Southern Cameroons was administered as part of Nigeria. This decision brought education in Cameroon under the British education policy for Nigeria.
The philosophical orientation of education in British Cameroons was found in the British policy of Indirect Rule. While the French carefully developed an assimilationist education, the British favoured an Adaptationist philosophy of education to suit the objectives of their colonial policy in Nigeria. The British believed that the wholesale transfer of the educational conventions of Europe and America to the peoples of Africa as the French did through assimilation was not certainly an act of wisdom. (Aka, 2002: 58) Based on the recommendations of the Phelps/Stokes Commission and the British Advisory Committee on education in her tropical territories, a memorandum of education was published in 1925 as the education policy in British Tropical Africa. This policy favored a system of adapting education to “the mentality, aptitudes, occupations and traditions of the various peoples so as to render them more efficient in their condition of life… and in the management of their own affairs” (Aka, 2002: 59).
In terms of management and control of the educational sector, the two administering authorities also demonstrated different approaches throughout the colonial period. The French policy of assimilation favoured a tight and centralized system of administration while the British policy favoured a decentralized system over African territories. Centralization enabled France to create a sense of unity and belonging to France. Since 1903 that assimilation was adopted, the French set up an educational system in their African territories whereby both public and mission schools were centrally controlled from France. In 1945, this policy was reiterated by an order which provided for an expanded school system whose structure and duration was in conformity with the metropolitan system and which was to be rigidly controlled from Paris.
Centralization also ensured that voluntary agencies operating schools in the territory were strictly under government control and respected government policy on education making sure that they did nothing to disturb the assimilation process (Mac Ojong, 2008:70).All regulations governing education in French Cameroon were issued by the commissioner in the form of orders, circulars and decisions. Educational programmes were prescribed and detailed precisely so that every teacher should know what had to be taught daily, weekly, monthly and yearly in all subjects and courses at various levels and types of schools. Apart from matters of policy, the duration, financing, structure and curriculum of all the school systems in French Cameroon was also centrally planned.
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the indigenes. Throughout the period, local education committees became formal education authorities. The local education committees were entrusted with the responsibility of the administration of primary education in their areas. The principle of local education committees was made to stimulate local interest and generate co/operation between the local communities and the government. The local committees which became local boards of education after 1948 comprised representatives of the government in the area, the voluntary agencies, the Native Authority concerned and members of the area branch of the Nigerian Union of teachers (Gwei, 1975:91). These were features of the policy of regionalization which became most instrumental for education and were reiterated by the 1946 Richard’s constitution.
Another area of great discordance was in the language of instruction. In French Cameroon the French language played a central role in education. To achieve their purpose it was a matter of strict policy that French was to be taught to all the indigenes so that they will think like French men and be able to acquire the fruits of French science and literature. (Gwei, 1975:202) This was contained in the French educational programme that was issued in a circular of August 29, 1916 and addressed to all Divisional Officers and the presidential decree of May 10, 1924 which reorganized education in French West Africa. The decree prescribed French as the only language of instruction and prohibited the use of local languages on the school premises by both teachers and pupils. The knowledge of a common language allowed all peoples to converse with one another and permitted the development of a feeling of national unity and patriotism around France and the beginning of a spirit of national awareness for the French Republic (France, 1923:19).
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Bamenda Division. (British,1926) In French Cameroon the greatest part of education at this level was the reading and writing French.
School financing was another issue where the two administering authorities differed significantly. In British Cameroon, the Grant/in/aid regulations were based on the school being educationally necessary, efficient and socially useful. The grant covered recognized expenses such as teachers’ salaries and was determined by an assumed local contribution which varied from region to region, rural and urban.1 In French Cameroon the only requirement for the award of the grant was that the school was open to inspection by the government. In this case while schools fell into categories of assisted and unassisted schools in British Cameroon, according to whether or not they qualified for and received grants, the French ensured that all schools benefited from government grants.
In matters of tuition, school fees became a significant feature of educational financing in the British administration. Government, native administrations and mission schools charged school fees which initially varied in amounts from one agency to another. This was harmonized in 1935 when the provincial school committee decided that Native Authority schools should charge the same fees as mission schools. (Great Britain, 1923) School fees and education rates continued to play a significant part in educational financing during the trusteeship period as they had during the mandate era. For education rates the amount of the fees was based on a classification of areas as “primitive”, “poor,” or wealthy. In 1951, the government increased the school fees despite the United Nations earlier complaint of high fees and repeated appeals for free primary education in the British sector of Cameroon (Great Britain, 1950:138).
While the French colonial administration took charge of the budget of the entire education of the territory, the British did not. School fees contributed 50.800 pounds of the 491.400 pounds spent on education in 1956 (Gwei, 1975). In addition to this the government introduced education rates. This was a form of taxation introduced in 1949. The assumed local contribution to education represented the expected income through school fees, while the local “rates” represented income raised by local authorities through the special taxation for the support of voluntary agency schools. (Great Britain, 1954:106/ 107) This affected educational access as parents paying education rates, taxes and high school fees became obsessed and tended to view education as a burden too heavy for some of them to bear.
The French had abolished the system of school fees introduced by the Germans, as early as 1918. Between 1918 and 1960, Engelbert (1963) says it was peculiar throughout the territory and levels of education that tuition was free. Students from regional schools were admitted to the advanced schools and later secondary schools on government scholarship which covered tuition, room and board. While mission/sponsored students into government post primary institutions paid no tuition fees, their sponsors were responsible for their maintenance at the schools. The Commissioner’s order of December
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26, 1926 made boarding at the advanced schools compulsory for all government/ sponsored students and half of those sponsored by the missions. (France,1953:244) During the long vacation all the government/sponsored students received a holiday allowance of fifteen French francs per month to enable them visit their families. A uniform was also prescribed for all students of the school. This was the same policy applicable in the secondary schools which replaced the advanced schools in the 1950s.
Differences were also revealed in the structure, and the curriculum of the school systems. The British established a two level elementary school system. The First level was that of the village schools which operated a four year program (Infants one and two and standard one and two). This one led to the award of no certificate. Most of the village schools were left in the hands of the native administrations and the missions. Unlike the French the missions and Native authorities were given a certain level of autonomy in matters related to curriculum. Because of the absence of qualified indigenous teachers, it was impossible to implement a harmonized curriculum. For a very long time, the curriculum of most of its schools was different and most of the teaching was in the vernacular. In British Cameroons, the focus of the four years village school system was on training the child to fit into his or her immediate environment/hence their strict use of the vernacular. Graduates of village schools who showed interest in further education went on to complete their standards III, IV, V and VI in the towns where the senior elementary schools were located. The British aim was also to have one government school in each of the four divisions of the province to stand as a model school for the junior schools. This was the case until the establishment of the Quasi Federal status in 1954. Mission and NA schools without the last four year classes were to send their pupils to such government schools to complete their education.
In French Cameroon, the village school or the ecole du premiere degree also lasted four years but was very different in orientation from the village school in British Cameroon. It was to be adapted to the degree of the child’s intellectual development; to the character and needs of the country and to the intentions of the French administration. It was made clear that “the child must sustain the administrative work. He shall be prepared to better understand so as to better help the intentions of the ruling power….” (France,1953:242) This justified the teaching of the French language. The remarkable thing here is that unlike the British, village schools in French Cameroon received the greatest attention of the administration. They were established in every village which could bring together at least 40 pupils of school age (children between 6 and 12). The village schools were called “French Schools, or French language schools or schools for the diffusion of spoken French. This was an indication of their purpose and objective. Although the village school did not lead to any certificate, it enabled the French to reach the population of the whole country in order to be assimilated.
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years and led to the award of the first school leaving certificate. Thus while the French established a six years elementary education which ended with the writing of the Certificat de Fin d’Etude Primaires Elementaires or the First School Leaving Certificate, it took a candidate in British Cameroons eight years to go through elementary school and receive and equivalent certificate. In French Cameroon, A pupil was not allowed to repeat classes more than twice during his primary school education where as in British Cameroons promotion was based on an adequate pass grade. A pupil stayed in one class until he was able to pass the promotion examination. This made the rate of repetition and wastage higher in British Cameroon.
In French Cameroon there was a third level of primary education. This third level of education was basically professional which was practically absent in British Cameroons. These were called Ecoles de l’Enseignment de Troisieme Degree Primaire or l’Ensignment Primaire Superieur. Such schools operated a three year programme; the first two years for general culture and last one for specialization. Admission was based on an entrance examination. These were the schools which developed into four year secondary schools after 1945 and were upgraded into seven years high schools with another three year programme called lycees after 1950. By the time of independence, most divisional headquarters and main cities could boast of these lycees run by the government as well as the missions. The secondary schools offered three different certificates; the Brevete or the BEPC after the four years course, the Baccalaureat part 1 in the sixth year (today called Probatoire) and Baccalaureat part II in the seventh year.
In British Cameroons, throughout the colonial period, the government had no secondary school in the territory. Secondary education was championed by the missionaries beginning in 1939 with St. Joseph College opened in Sasse, Buea, and the Cameroon Protestant College at Bali in 1949 and in 1957, the Queen of the Rosary College Okoyong in Mamfe. These were the only secondary schools in British Cameroon prior to political independence. These schools which aimed at providing “…an education which, while complete in itself, will fit students to become responsible citizens and provide the groundwork for further training”. As contained in the Great Britain (1957:112) offered a five year programme leading to the award of the Cambridge School Certificate and the West Africa School Certificate. A two year high school was subsequently established awarding the GCE Advanced Level. Again remarkable differences could be noticed in terms of duration of schools and structure of certificates at both secondary and high schools.
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supervision. There was another one in Foumban in operation since 1918 with courses in road construction, wood work and public works. In 1932, a two year nursing school was opened at Ayos for those interested in the field who had the advanced school leaving certificate. Entrance was through a competitive examination (Gwei, 1975). In British Cameroons, apart from teacher training, professional training was practically absent. MacOjong (2008, p134) asserts that the British policy in this regard was technical industrial training that was to be given in government workshops and departments like medical, agricultural, forestry, veterinary, survey, post office etc . In French Cameroon while such special centres, schools and courses existed for each of these specialized fields as early as the 1918, the first technical school was opened in southern Cameroons in 1954.
There were also different approaches and laid down principles for teacher training. In French Cameroon, there were three distinct types of teachers. The first grade was the Grade A Teachers. These were people who had put in at least seven years of secondary education, obtained the Baccalaureat II and did another year of teacher training called the Certificat d’ Aptitude Pedagogique Elementaire. The Assistant Teachers made up the second grade of teachers or teachers in Grade B. These were people who had put in at least the first four years of secondary education and were holders of the lower secondary education certificate and did an another year of pedagogy to earn them the Certificat d’Aptitude pedagogique elementaire. In the third category were pupil teachers with either the pupil teacher certificate of general education (secondary class III level) or the first school leaving certificate (for temporal employment) (France, Rapport Annuel sur Cameroun, 1957).
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A very significant issue in the French educational system in Cameroon was the important role placed on the education of sons of chiefs. Children of chiefs and notables had the first opportunities to be enrolled in village schools. Official instructions were that the school shall receive in the first place children of chiefs and notables who will assist in the administration of the country where they shall be called to assist. On February 4, 1933, the commissioner issued an order establishing the status of chiefs in Cameroon. They were to serve as intermediaries of the administration and derived their authority from it. On December 27, 1933, the commissioner issued another order organizing schools for preparing future chiefs. The order authorized the establishment of special conditions and facilities in existing village and regional schools for the education of future chiefs (Commissaire de la Republique Francaise au Cameroun, 1933). The commissioner’s justification was that since Cameroon had a hierarchical social system based principally on birth, sons of chiefs and notables were to benefit first from the limited educational facilities available in the territory. The order designated special schools for sons of chiefs in Yaoundé, Dschang, Garoua and Doumie. Apart from these, the order also specified the village or regional schools in which sons of chiefs could be educated. At such schools they had special facilities in special sections of the schools known as section des fils du chef (Commissaire de la Republique Francaise au Cameroun, 1933). Despite the fact that the role of native authorities was more obvious in the British sector, no policy was put in place to ensure that this group of people acquired a functional education.
From all intents and purposes education was more developed in French Cameroon and like in other aspects of administration and personnel the English speaking Cameroonians entered the reunification marriage in an inferior position to that of the French. What the two sides brought to the reunification table were two very incompatible educational experiences which posed great challenges for the development of education in a one and indivisible federal republic; the diversity that had to lead to unity.
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These laws have not been repealed. As provided in the West Cameroon Education Ordinance (1963) and stated inter alia, “unification implies a unified system of education” and went on to say that:
…for this reason government does not object to, and in fact welcomes such measures as will promote a unity of the two structures of education. The length of courses, the beginning and ending of the academic year, the dates of holidays (even the basic aims of education in the context of the Federal Republic) all these and other structural details can easily and should be harmonized.
The same policy anticipated that the academic year will in future begin in September and end in June, to harmonize with secondary school and university terms. This was to be achieved by September, 1964. With the coming of reunification, the state ministries of education and social welfare were in charge of only primary education. Secondary schools which had come under the federal ministry had already adopted the September/June academic year as was applicable in the French speaking sector. This was in order to intensify the teaching of rural science and manual handicrafts for boys and domestic science for girls at the end of the six/year academic course. In terms of the structure of the school systems, Table 1 below shows the inherited situation.
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5 Certificate offered FSLC CEPE
6 Duration of secondary school 5 years 4 years 7 Secondary school certificate GCE O/L BEPC
8 Duration of High school 2 years 3 years
9 High school certificate GCE A/L Baccalaureate 10 Education structure Decentralized Centralized 11 Education policy Indigenous needs Assimilationist 12 Language policy In favour of local
languages
In favour of French
13 Attitude towards secondary education Negligent Positive 14 Attitude towards technical and
vocational education
Negligent Positive
15 Policy on school fees Compulsory payment by all
Free education and scholarships 16 On the training of chiefs No schools available Special schools
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Table 1 above demonstrates that the English and French speaking Cameroonians by their training were two different people who had to put in a lot or give away so much to enable reunification of education to succeed. For example, the different durations of school courses demonstrated that by the time candidates got their high school certificates and were vying for employment or admission into the university, everything being equal, those educated in the Anglophone system would be more than three years older than their francophone counterparts. This was a serious problem in a reunified Cameroon where age limits were placed on competitive entrance examinations into most professions. In this regard the Anglophone candidates were seriously disadvantaged.
To harmonize the duration of primary education which was within the jurisdiction of the state ministries of education, the West Cameroon state government proposed in the 1963 ordinance that the primary school academic course will be reduced to seven years from 1963 and to six years from 1965 to harmonize with the practice in the French speaking zone. For secondary schools which were under the auspices of the Federal Government, the federal law No.1. 63/13 of 19 July 1963 stated that studies in secondary general education schools would last five years. Complete high schools or lycees (those that combined secondary and high school sections) would last seven years comprising a five year first/secondary cycle and a two year second/high cycle. This was expected to be implemented as from 1965. The west Cameroon government went on to implement the 1963 law by reducing its eight years primary education by one year in 1964 and was looking on to reduce it to six in the subsequent year. This did not happen probably because the francophone region failed to implement the restructuring of its four/three years secondary and high school structure to the five/two years structure as the case in Anglophone Cameroon. In matters of curriculum harmonization, all the laws were silent. The west Cameroon law however mentioned the teaching of French in their sector.
In 1965/66 the Higher Council for Education requested for the harmonization of structures and curricula of secondary education in the two federated states. A joint committee of experts from the two federated states was set up to examine the secondary school syllabuses and examination systems with a view of harmonizing them. Following these instructions a Committee for the Harmonization of Education in the Republic made up of experts from the two states, met in Yaounde from January 13th to January 15th 1966. In this meeting the Minister of National Education William Eteki Mboumoua explained that the government;
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The committee recommended that the GCE Ordinary Level of west Cameroon and the BEPC of East Cameroon should be replaced by a single certificate called the Certificate of General Education (CGE) while the GCE Advanced Level and the Baccalaureate be replaced by the Secondary Education Leaving Certificate (SELC). Candidates to these exams were to study the same subjects and content although in their respective languages. With these proposals the Commission demonstrated that harmonization could in effect take place if the will was there. Their proposals painted a positive picture around the country and hopes of having an indigenous national education structure, curricula and examination were beginning to be realized. They demonstrated that experts were ready to do the groundwork and ensure implementation and that it was only the political will that was left to complete the process. In 1968, they met in Douala to propose new syllabuses and in 1971 they met again in Yaoundé to put finishing touches. Their work was only waiting final approval from the Higher Council of Education. This final approval was never obtained and these efforts have since been dashed into thin air.
In 1972, the government set up the Institute of National Education (INE) in Yaoundé by Presidential Order No.1. CMR/72/018. By another decree of September 1973, the president spelt out their functions. They were to carryout research in secondary education with a view to harmonizing or improving the proposed secondary school syllabuses. Pretesting of the mathematics, civics, history and geography programmes was to be carried out at the Bilingual Grammar School Molyko, in Buea. Textbooks to this effect were also written, but like the others, nothing had been heard in terms of implementing the Institute’s work.
In 1977, both the GCE advanced level and Ordinary level were Cameroonized probably as a first step towards harmonization examinations and certifications but what ensued demonstrated more, overt signs of assimilation of the Anglophone certificate to the French system. The Ministry of National Education took over the setting, administration and the award of GCE certificates from the University of London which had been organizing the exams in Anglophone Cameroon since independence. From this time onward the GCE began experiencing irregularities especially when some of the London officials began to withdraw. In fact from 1990 when the London University Examination Board relegated its former role on the Cameroon GCE, irregularities increased in an alarming rate (Ndongko and Nyamnjoh).
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doing enough to be bilingual and that they were doing very poorly in science oriented subjects. He lamented the fact that there were very few Anglophones in science oriented professional schools like the National Advanced School of Engineering, the Institute of Demography in Yaoundé and the University Centres of Ngaoundere, Douala and Dschang. Even in the Departments of Mathematics and Physics of the then University of Yaoundé, the rate of failure for Anglophones was said to be very alarming (Ngoh, 1987:320).
These proposals were rejected in a series of demonstrations by Anglophones in Yaoundé and in the Northwest and Southwest provinces. The students wrote to the Head of State demanding the annulment of the New GCE reform because according to them, the group certificate was naïve, over demanding and too rigorous. According to the striking students, the reforms confused quantity with intensity by imagining that the more the papers taken at ‘A’ level, the better the chances of the candidate in higher institutions. The students argued that if Anglophones were under/represented in professional schools and institutions of higher education, the fault was not the GCE or the Anglophone educational system, but rather, the fact that these institutions were designed to answer more to the needs of those with the Baccalaureate than to the needs of candidates with the GCE. In Bamenda Teachers, students and some parents marched from the commercial avenue to the up/station Mendakwe office of Governor David Abouem a Choyi to present their petition against the Yaoundé decision. The Anglophones also saw the 1984 reforms as a prelude to the abandoning of the GCE for a translated version of the BEPC and the Baccalaureate ().2 The president’s response through the Speaker of the National Assembly, seemed to be in favour of the ministerial decision. On Friday 2 December 1983 he ordered the striking students to return to class (Nyamnjoh, nd).
Contrary to the Minister, and the Speaker of the Assembly, experts in the field seem to agree with the striking students that the poor performance of Anglophones in Mathematics, physics and related science subjects in post secondary institutions in Cameroon was not related to the poor system of the GCE. Eba for example writes that the most important factor why Anglophones perform poorly in the sciences and mathematics is that;
In mathematics and related subjects, the Francophones are more philosophical and abstract whereas the Anglophones are practical and problem solving. Even if the same topics in mathematics appeared in the Baccalaureate as well as the GCE syllabuses and are taught differently, the Anglophones will still fail if the examination is conducted in the francophone manner and vice versa. Since most of the lecturers in the universities are Francophones and the programmes and methods of teaching in these universities are a continuation of the Baccalaureate programmes, Francophones have an edge over the Anglophones (Nwana, 2000:20).
