ITALIAN LANGUAGE IN CAMEROON PROMOTION OF

Italy Offers Didactic Materials to Foster the Teaching and Learning of Italian in Secondary Schools.

The Italian Ambassador, His Excellency Filippo Scammacca del Murgo, handed over the package of didactic materials to Prof Nalova Lyonga, Minister of Secondary Education, during an audience on Tuesday, 29 March 2022 in Yaounde.

The package of didactic materials received from the Italian Government consisted of 250 dictionaries and 750 books in various subjects including, literature, grammar, didactics and pedagogy.

This is to support the teaching and learning of Italian in the 70 secondary schools offering Italian language courses nationwide. During the reception ceremony, Prof Nalova Lyonga expressed her satisfaction with the donation and hailed the vibrant cooperation with Italy in secondary education.

To the Italian Ambassador, cooperation with the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC) is mutually beneficial as it offers an in-depth knowledge of the culture and arts of Cameroon and Italy. He wished cooperation avenues in the sector be multiplied and confirmed his commitment in taken it to a higher level.

One of the avenues would be to foster good Italian language pronunciation by having native speakers teach learners using distance education. The advancement of the Italian language in the English-speaking Regions of Cameroon is equally a top priority on the agenda of the Italian Ambassador. The first capacity-building seminars for Italian language teachers working in these regions will soon be organised.

Since 2011, the Italian Government has been providing multifaceted support through capacity-building seminars for pedagogic inspectors and teachers, training of trainers as well as donation of didactic materials to promote Italian language in secondary schools.

Aimé Ngidjol

Celcom/MINESEC

MINEFOP AND MINESEC AGREE TO ADVANCE THE PROJECT DURING A HIGH-LEVEL MEETING

On Wednesday, 6^th January 2021, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Minister of Employment and Vocational Training and Prof Nalova Lyonga, Minister of Secondary Education, co-chaired a follow-up meeting on the PADESCE project, in the company of Boniface Bayaola, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Secondary Education in charge of Teacher’s Training, alongside other officials from both ministries.

The support project for the development of the secondary sector and skills for growth and employment, better known under its French acronym PADESCE, seemed to have been stalled and needed the oversight of both ministers to take an effective boost.

The project whose preparation phase dates back as from 2017 is yet to be fully matured and enter its implementation phase owing to a few stumbling blocks. Some of these basically pertain to its structure, as the project is steered by both ministries. It is therefore in view of ascertaining the current status of the project that both ministers met so as to identify and clear the sticking points.

Relying on the presentations made by project focal points and following discussions thereto, recommendations were made to the project team, the key recommendation being to provide both ministers with timely highlights and updates at each stage so as to ease their understanding and facilitate their decision-making.

Both ministers reiterated their willingness and readiness to work in close collaboration for the full success of the PADESCE project. They equally instructed their respective teams involved in the project to do same and prioritise the general interest.

As a reminder, this project funded by the World Bank aims to provide Cameroon with mid-level skilled workers on renewable energies, ICTs, agribusiness, and building and construction. By so doing, one of the basic requirements for Cameroon to achieve its emergence by 2035 would be satisfied.

A. Ngidjol, Celcom/MINESEC