The Minister of Finance presented this week to the Assembly an envelope of 96 billion CFA francs for teachers in 2024. Enough to partially respond to the concerns of teachers, according to the government. Public teachers who have been mobilizing from kindergarten to high school since the start of the school year as part of the “OTS” movement. This announcement of 96 billion comes in addition to a series of “working sessions with the authorities” and a first meeting at the general secretariat of the presidency. But this is an insufficient response, according to the Cameroon Teachers’ Union for Africa.
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The OTS movement for “We have endured too much” began in February 2022, joined by the Cameroon Teachers Union for Africa (SECA). This year, the movement resumed on September 4, 2023. The “dead chalk” strike mode used by OTS works as follows: teachers go to the establishments, to their post, on working days, sign the call book, but they don’t look classy. Thus, they cannot be sanctioned for absenteeism.
The government has summoned teaching unions to several “work sessions” since September. And for the first time, on November 22, the unions were received at the general secretariat of the presidency (SGPR) by a technical advisor.
The government pays a debt it created
But for Samory Touré Tenkeng, national secretary in charge of communication of (SECA), “ the government is in a policy of procrastination and attrition. It’s the same song they repeat to us.”the government has no means, be patient“… » For the national secretary of SECA, Judaime Yannick Tickwe, “ the government has always asked us to be patient, but we have been wondering for thirty years, we have only been patient. Hence the slogans “we have endured too much, we have waited too much”. It’s to say that we can’t take it anymore, we’re fed up. »
“ They don’t want to do anything, regrets Samory Toure Tenkeng. The government is paying off a debt it created, it is trying to give the impression that it is solving a problem. But he continues to accumulate unpaid promotions. On the union side, a bloc is demanding better living conditions for teachers. Another one asking for the national education forum. But in terms of debt, everyone is demanding the same thing. »
“ It’s a bit like when you turn on a faucet to turn on a bucket and the bucket is pierced at the bottom and it flows at the same rate as the water coming in, believes Judaime Yannick Tickwe. You are never going to end up in debt. Many teachers who go out into the normal school field are not directly supported or paid for several years. That’s a debt. There are other career actions which act as salary supplements which should be paid either every two years or with family allowances, but which are not paid. As long as they are not paid, the state debt continues to increase. »
The union representative believes that the 96 billion promised by the government is not a satisfactory response. “ He will pay 96 billion but how much? How much does the Cameroonian state actually owe teachers? He doesn’t say that. Is the State actually paying its debt when, while it is paying this debt, it accumulates another debt towards teachers? », he asks.
Finding this envelope is not easy at all.
“ The question of teachers is a question that the government is treating with attention, following the instructions of the Head of State who is doing what he can in the Cameroonian context which is difficult, responds Denis Omgba, member of the Ministry of Communication. Finding this envelope is not easy at all, we found it on top of everything else. »
At the presidency, on November 22, the technical advisor to the SGPR asked the unions to produce “ a consensual special status “. SECA’s Samory Toure Tenkeng hopes that unions, even those they call “ government satellite unions » will speak with one voice.
SECA is preparing a press conference in the coming days. On the ground, assures Judaime Yannick Tickwe, the strike is not about to end. The strikers will not complete the first quarter evaluations, threatening to make the school year “a blank year.” The government of Cameroon responds that the unions are “ of overbidding “. “ The government plans according to its resources and capacities in a difficult context “.