The New Syllabi for Cameroon Secondary Education: A Description of the Organisation of Salient Elements.

Abstract

This study sets out to describe the new secondary school syllabi that came into use in Cameroon in the 2014/2015 academic year superseding the syllabuses that had been in use in the past thirty years. The present syllabi have been created to reflect the national and international learning needs in terms of knowledge, know-how and attitudes. Cast in the Competency-Based Approach to teaching and learning, it draws from the vision of education contained in the Education for All goals (EFA), Jomtien (1990) [1], the Dakar (2000) [2] framework for action, Sustainable Development Goal, 4 to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (p. 18, 2015) [3], the national education policy and the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP, 2010) [4] which carries Cameroon Vision 2035. Structured into five “area of learning”, with different weights, the syllabi are held together by “Families of situations” around which teaching and learning activities are developed and implemented in a bid to enable learners develop both the subject competences, as well as, the cross-curricula competences. The specific roles of learners’, teachers’, parents’, and the community are clearly delineated to facilitate implementation.