Cameroon: Boko Haram targets schools

Nearly 70 schools in Cameroon’s Far North Region have been forced to close, are damaged, or operate intermittently as a result of the recurrent cross-border raids by Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgents. “Boko Haram attacks on villages and schools have forced students and teachers to flee. There are many displaced families in the region. This displaced population is now occupying other localities like the central towns of Kolofata and Mora,” says deputy-prefect Ibrahim Koulagna.

Just a handful of government teachers assigned to the Far North Region remain in their posts. “In 2014, more than 200 trained teachers did not take up their posts in these localities and many seek transfer to other places due to insecurity,” a ministry of basic education official told IRIN. The official, who did not want to be named, voiced worry that education in the Far North is in serious jeopardy not only because schools in the region are shunned by teachers, but also because no additional funding is being given to schools absorbing refugee pupils from other establishments.

The brutality being unleashed by the insurgents on communities is likely to have a deeper impact in Cameroon’s most deprived region. “The short and long-term implication will be enormous. The quality of education is bound to worsen and many youth will miss out the opportunity to be at school and may end up being brainwashed into joining militant groups as a result of idleness,” warns Koulagna.