Education, vocational training and actions inducing health and socio-economic well- being are envisaged in order to make the Cameroonian population both a develop- ment factor and beneficiary.
The structural transformation of the national economy requires the availability of qualified and competitive human capital. It represents an indispensible factor for developing a vibrant industrial sector based on the existence of an important skilled and fully occupied labour force’’.
On the strength of this assertion enacted in NDS30, Cameroon new development strategy proposes the implementation of health, training and social security (intends to raise the social coverage rate from 22% currently to more than 50% by the year 2030, editor’s note) as well as education policies, which ‘‘will enable the development of sound and productive human capital’’.
To this end, during the current de- cade, the Government of Cameroon intends to ‘‘promote an educational system at the end of which each young graduate is socially integrated, bilingual, competent in a key area for the country’s development and aware of what is required of him/her to contribute thereto’’, underscores Pierre Nguetse, Head of the Unit in charge of Formulating the National Development Strategy at MINEPAT.
To achieve this objective, Government will, according to NDS30, endeavour to guarantee access to primary education for all children of school-age, achieve a 100% completion rate at primary level, reduce school disparities in terms of school infrastructure and teaching staff, increase the supply of vocational and technical training from 10 to 25% at secondary level and from 18 to 35% at tertiary level.
On this last aspect, it equally entails, at operational level, to go beyond the 1 648 public and private vocational training centres and institutes currently offering close to 240 training specialties to more than 45000 learners each year. Moreover, as we learn, Government intends ‘‘to introduce in training syllabuses and programmes, courses pertaining to social and economic values necessary for strengthening the spirit of patriotism and enterprise in learners’’.
On a different note, in addition to improving access to housing, water (61% of the population in 2014) and electricity supply (62.1% in 2016 on an initial projection of 70%), the new reference framework for Cameroon’s development anticipates on noticeable progress in the health sector.
Clearly speaking, during the next ten years, thanks to the improvement in health offer, the country intends taking maternal mortality rate to below 70 deaths per 100 000 live births; reducing neonatal mortality to not more than 12 per 1000 live births at most, and under five mortality to 25 per 1000 live births at most (as against 48 per 1000 in 2018).
NDS30 also anticipates reducing the prevalence and mortality of major communicable and non-communicable diseases by at least 30%; reducing malnutrition in children under five by two-thirds; and making 80% of intermediary and peripheral health facilities viable, etc.
“The Government of Cameroon intends to ‘‘promote an educational system at the end of which each young graduate is socially integrated, bilingual, competent in a key area for the country’s development …’’
Rosine Nkonla Azanmene
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