In the past two days, an online movement has emerged advocating for a pay raise for primary school teachers in Cameroon in the private sector.
This was sparked by a Facebook post from a parent, criticizing school owners for paying teachers just FCFA 50,000, while charging FCFA 450,000 in fees per student.
“We can not register children in kindergarten and nursery at 450000 frs CFA and the teacher earns 50000 frs. No Mr founder,” a parent wrote.
The post quickly gained reaction, with bloggers and social media users reposting it and calling on primary school teachers to reject such unfair pay for the 2024/2025 school year.
“Dear nursery and primary school teachers, stop collecting, 30,000frs, 40,000frs,50000frs as salaries in 2024. You can’t be teaching a class of 50 pupils who pay 80,000frs each as fees but your salary is not even up to a kid’s fees. Stop teacher exploitation in Cameroon,” an online blog reposted.
This online discussion seems to have reignited a long-standing issue in the Cameroonian education sector.
While some blame parents for not demanding higher educational standards, others criticize teachers for accepting these low wages.
“It starts with parents. Parents in Cameroon do not make any demands of their schools and teachers be it education, discipline etc. If parents demand higher standards, the owners will find quality teachers who are worth more,” one user commented.
Another user pointed out, “The real problem is the teacher who accepts such a salary. Besides most teachers accepting such are not teachers.”
This problem ultimately affects the quality of education, as school proprietors focus on cutting costs by hiring unqualified teachers and paying them meager salaries, which compromises the education of students.
Many also criticize the Cameroonian government for failing to advocate for private school teachers, most of whom are not even registered with the National Social Security Fund (CNPS).
“Unfortunately, even the government that is supposed to protect citizens looks the other way in the face of extreme exploitation, which leaves workers in the private groaning under a yoke that threatens to strangle them,” lamented one citizen.
“The government justifies this on lack of jobs and the need to encourage employers to keep more and more citizens on their jobs,” she added.
In many private schools, tuition fees are extremely high, yet teachers, who are the cornerstone of education, receive very low pay.
With the rising unemployment rate in Cameroon, many teachers accept these poor wages just to remain employed.
Some of them are untrained individuals simply looking for work to avoid idleness.
Teaching is a profession that requires passion and dedication to deliver quality education.
Many parents choose private schools, believing in their discipline, class size, and overall quality of education. However, one parent raised concerns about overcrowded classrooms and low teacher pay.
“It’s not just the low salaries, but also the number of students per teacher that is worrying,” a parent commented.
As the discussion continues to spread online, teachers and parents alike are urging for change, calling on the government to address the issue of private school pay.
