Just one week into the new school year, the excitement of children and parents in Cameroon’s Far North is already giving way to anxiety.
Behind the smiles of students returning to class lies a harsh reality: mandatory fees and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) contributions weigh heavily on families already weakened by poverty and successive crises.
The situation is particularly tense in private schools, which survive solely on tuition payments from parents—payments many are struggling to make.
As a direct consequence, teachers who rely on these funds face uncertainty over their modest wages.
“We have to pay the teachers with the money collected from parents. But when those payments don’t come in, we’re stuck,” explained the head of a private school in Maroua.
In several institutions, some teachers earn no more than 20,000 to 30,000 CFA francs (about $33–$50) a month and often wait long periods to be paid.
Public schools are not faring much better. Although state-employed teachers receive government salaries, a severe staffing shortage forces schools to hire temporary teachers. These contract teachers depend entirely on PTA contributions and often go unpaid for months.
“When parents can’t contribute, we have no way to pay the temporary staff. As a result, some classes remain without a teacher, or lessons are delivered irregularly,” said a primary school administrator in Mayo-Sava Division.
Ultimately, the children bear the brunt. Many face empty classrooms or sporadic instruction.
For families already struggling to keep their children in school, the situation feels like a double punishment.
“My son is enrolled, but after a week he still hasn’t had a proper lesson. Teachers come and go, saying they aren’t being paid,” recounted a mother in Mora.
This recurring crisis highlights the limits of an educational system in deep distress in the Far North. Between household poverty, PTAs’ inability to raise adequate funds, and the absence of a sustainable plan for managing temporary staff, both public and private schools continue to operate at a crawl.
In a region already battered by insecurity and humanitarian challenges, children’s education is once again under threat—even though it remains the key to a better future.
