Minister Nalova Lyonga maintains disturbing silence as Douala private School teachers go for months without salaries

Teachers of La Memoire Secondary School at Ancienne Route Bonaberi, Douala are at the verge of another sit down strike in demand of their unpaid salaries.

A teacher of the school speaking on the basis of anonymity has written to Mimi Mefo Info.

The disgruntled teacher said “We haven’t received our salaries since the month of March. When we ask, it is either the proprietor threatens to dismiss those spearheading or he will simply give a fake promise,” .

Our informant attests that staff of the school had to stage a peaceful sit down strike in January 2020 to force the school to pay salaries for the month of December.

“He always brags that he has connections at the labour office and in the government and failure to pay his staff does not mean anything”, said the source.

The proprietor of La Memoire Secondary School has described the allegations as unfounded.

In a telephone interview with Mimi Mefo Info Thursday June 25th, he said: “I will pay their salaries next week. You should equally know that the teachers have not been working all this while because of the coronavirus pandemic. But nevertheless, I have borrowed money here and there to fulfil my engagement.”

According to the proprietor, his school has not benefited from the 6.5 billion subventions to secondary schools from the President of the Republic.

“This is because my teachers don’t have authorisation to teach.
They were to get that from the regional delegation of secondary education. Next academic year, I and my team will make it a compulsory document for our teachers”.

At the moment, teachers of the school are impatiently waiting for next week to receive their salaries though no specific date has been given.

At Groupe Scholaire Bilingue Dinosaure in Douala, teachers have equally demanded their salaries to no avail.

One of the teachers said “Since schools were closed in the Country in March, we only received salary for a month. This was after a strike. From all indications, the proprietor will not pay the remaining salaries”.

To the teacher, all pupils of the school have paid their fees even before the shutting down of schools by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
The teachers regret that they put in place a monthly solidarity financial contribution for all the teachers at the beginning of the school year with a procedure for each member to benefit when they receive monthly salary. Given that the school proprietor to them has decided not to pay, the situation has become complicated for the teachers.

Complaints of teachers of private schools in Douala and other parts of Cameroon on the non-payment of salaries since the outbreak of coronavirus despite a decision signed by the Minister of Secondary Education, Nalova Lyonga have gone unresolved.

Mimi Mefo Info.