Improved Building Increases Student Performance in Cameroon
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
It is a calm Tuesday morning at the Zamalva Public School located in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Students have begun lessons for the day. In the fourth-grade classroom, students are learning French. The children sit two per desk and there are 50 pupils in the classroom. The class may be crowded but since 2022, the learning conditions at the Zamalva Public School have improved.
"I used to sit on the ground or on a stone and place my books on my thighs to copy notes," says student Rouda Fiama. "There was no desk for us to sit at."
Rouda Fiama, a fifth-grade student learns French at the Zamalva Public school in the Far North Region of Cameroon.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
The Zamalva Public School was created in 2015 but it went operational in 2019 with only a two-classroom building. With the increasing student population over the years, two classrooms were insufficient. The school management constructed two makeshift shelters to serve as classrooms where students would sit on the ground or on stones.The shelters were often very crowded, making it difficult for the children to learn. In the rainy seasons, it was practically impossible for the them to use the shelters.
There was no table or chair to sit on," says teacher Odile Danadam. "I used to stand up all day to teach. We had more than 70 pupils in each shelter. The blackboards we used were slippery and each time we wrote on them, the children complained that it was not visible."
Odile Danadam is teaching French to fifth-grade student in a public school in Zamalva village in Cameroon's Far North Region.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
In 2021, the parent-teacher association of the school constructed another two-classroom building. The structure was partially complete, with no ceiling, windows or doors.
In the same year, a project called the Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region, or STaR II, funded by the German Development Bank, or KfW, was launched and Zamalva was selected as one of the target villages. Catholic Relief Services implements the project in collaboration with Caritas Maroua-Mokolo to support people in the Lake Chad Region whose lives have been threatened by food insecurity, conflict, displacement and climate change. The community of Zamalva identified the school construction project as one of their priorities.
Narcisse Mvondo, project officer for the STaR II project makes a routine visit to check the two-classroom building renovated by the project.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
In 2023, as part of the infrastructure component of the STaR II project, skilled professionals and cash-for-work participants were recruited to rehabilitate the two-classroom building. The project provided 30 desks, a table and a chair in each classroom, and a blackboard to improve the learning conditions at the school.
"I am very happy because I can sit on a desk and copy my notes very well," says Rouda.
As a result of improvements at the Zamalva Public School, students now perform better in official exams and there has been an increase in enrollment.
“The children and the teachers now learn in a comfortable environment," says Ndelme Zra, head teacher of the Zamalva Public School. "Since the building was renovated, our school population has increased from 320 pupils to 432.”
Ndelme Zra, head teacher of the Zamalva Public School, stands with two of his fifth-grade students in front a two-classroom building constructed by the STaR II project in Cameroon’s Far North Region.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
The head teacher says there has been a noticeable improvement in the performance of students during public exams. The Zamalva Public School intends to raise more funds to build another two-classroom building to make the infrastructure of the school complete for the primary education cycle.
STaR II Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region is a project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) via German Development Bank (KfW). Phase I of the project started in 2019 in Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, while Phase II launched in September 2021 and expanded to include Cameroon. The project has activities under four components including infrastructure development/rehabilitation, economic revitalization, social cohesion, and local governance. In Cameroon, CRS partners with Caritas Maroua-Mokolo to implement the project. Since 2021, the STaR II project has supported about 13,600 people by improving access to basic infrastructure and services, enhancing livelihoods, reinforcing social cohesion, and improving local governance.
