Cameroon: Teachers Give School System a Failing Grade

In the run-up to examinations, students frequently complain that teachers pile too much work on them. In Cameroon, however, the opposite is true. Since the academic year got underway in 2004, strikes by teachers have disrupted the education of millions of secondary school pupils, and the sight of small groups of students roaming the streets when they should be in class has become a common one. Figures on the number of teachers involved in the stay-aways are hard to come by; what is known is that most of the strikers are staff who have been going without pay - some for up to two years.