Back to school 2021: hundreds of kids to miss school for lack of birth certificates

The Anglophone Crisis in the North West region has imposed much pain on the population, with women and children as key victims.

Homes have been burnt down and several people including school children displaced. Amongst several items either burnt or misplaced in the course of all these, are birth certificates of school children.

The situation has been made worst with most of the 34 councils in the region now forced to operate from Upstation, Bamenda, leaving parents and children stranded.

This too has made it harder than before for many to acquire birth certificates needed for school.

The chief of the National Civil Status Registration Office for the North West region, BUNEC, Nanjui Awunti has revealed that the socio-political crisis in the North West region continues hampering the ability of the state-run institution to access the statistical situation of the production of birth certificates.

She made the revelation Tuesday August 10, 2021 in Bamenda during the celebration of the 10th African day of Decentralization and Local Development.

She indicated that the situation is negatively impacting school children in the region who have not been able to register for classes.

“That not withstanding, establishments of other civil status acts are still going on though the offices have been displaced”, she said.

Although the offices have been displaced, Nanjui Awunti said birth certificates are now being established at different rates and the rate of production of civil status acts have dropped drastically due to the crisis.

Despite the situation, fighting between government forces and separatist fighters which has already left many thousands out of school, shows no signs of ending soon.

By Timfuchi Aaron