Resilient Strategies and Education of Non-Displaced Students in the Midst of Socio-Political Crisis in the Northwest Region of Cameroon

Abstract

Socio-political crisis tends to push students out of their communities causing them to seek for safer sanctuaries elsewhere but a good number of them still do not want to move out despite the unscrupulous happenings. Understanding how students extenuate coping strategies in such unbecoming atmospheres becomes pivotal. The crisis in the North West Region of Cameroon has propelled non-displaced students to venture in new life styles in order to acquire education amidst crisis without being repulsive. It is against this premise that this study sets out to investigate students’ resilient strategies within the current crisis in the North West Region of Cameroon. Data for the study was amassed from secondary and primary sources. The secondary sources involved soft and hard copies of both published and unpublished documents while primary data was gleaned from field interviews and observation. With the help of snowball sampling technique, 40 interviews’ guides were administered in some sampled Divisions of the North West Region of Cameroon. Extra data was gotten through direct observations and focus groups discussions. Results revealed that, for non-displaced students to effectively negotiate and obtain secured education amidst crisis; community-based learning centers were created, religious convictions was used as a mechanism for confronting insecurity, adjustment in school institutional cultures, Shifting paradigms in disciplinary practices/majors in schools and adaptability potentials towards food insecurity in the crisis zones.