The separatist conflict in Cameroon has forced thousands of students out of schools, disrupting education across the country. At Holy Infant Secondary School in Yaoundé, many students reflect on the hardships they’ve faced due to the violence.
Jane Ndamei, a 20-year-old from the country’s southwestern region, narrowly escaped an armed attack on her school five years ago. She was taking a Grade 12 exam when gunfire broke out, forcing her and her peers to flee. Ndamei’s experience is just one example of how the conflict, which began in 2017, has impacted education in the region.
According to the United Nations, 2.8 million children in West and Central Africa have had their schooling disrupted by violence, with over 14,000 schools closed by June 2024. In Cameroon alone, the separatist crisis in the west and Boko Haram attacks in the north have left 1.4 million school-age children in need of educational aid.
The separatists, who seek to create an independent English-speaking state, have targeted schools, forcing them to close and initiating school boycotts to pressure the government. Human Rights Watch reports that students and teachers have been abducted, killed, and threatened, while school buildings have been destroyed.
The conflict has displaced over 760,000 people and claimed more than 6,000 lives. Many children, including Ndamei, have had to relocate to safer areas in French-speaking regions to continue their education, while others have seen their dreams shattered.
For families like that of Nelson Tabuwe, who fled the violence in the northwest, survival is a daily struggle. His three children, out of school for seven years, have had to help support the family, with their education and future aspirations put on hold indefinitely.