CAMEROUN :: School year 2024-2025: Suspension of APEE fees in public schools. :: CAMEROON

On the instruction of Madam Minister of Secondary Education of Cameroon Pauline Nalova Lyonga, the collection of due fees, examinations, and APEE (parents' and teachers' associations) in all public establishments for the school year 2024-2025 is suspended until further notice.

This information is contained in a letter from the Regional Delegate of Secondary Teachers of the Western Region, dated July 9, 2024, addressed to the heads of public establishments.

According to the letter, any deviation from this ministerial instruction will be severely punished. The Regional Delegate of Secondary Education for the Western Region expressed his confidence in the responsibility of school administrators for compliance with this directive.

For the moment, the Minister has not mentioned the reasons for this suspension. However, it is useful to recall that in July 2022, during a parliamentary session, the honorable Nanga Marthe questioned the Minister of Secondary Education, Pauline Egbe Nalova Lyonga, on the need to harmonize APEE fees on the entire national territory. The Minister then firmly explained that there was no question of harmonizing these fees, each establishment having specific realities and needs. At the same time, she complained that establishment managers were placing more emphasis on obtaining APEE fees.

It is necessary to note, APEE fees are often a source of discord at each school year in Cameroon. Set according to the needs of each establishment, they generally vary between 12,500 and 30,000 FCFA in high schools, which irritates many parents due to the opaque management of these funds. According to the heads of parent- teacher associations, these fees are used to pay the salaries of temporary teachers, to acquire computer equipment, to finance classroom construction work, and to purchase desks.

The suspension of its APEE fees for the 2024-2025 school year, is a cry of relief for many parents of students with the lifestyle which is becoming more and more difficult in Cameroon, in the meantime the new directives, for heads of establishments accustomed to this practice, they will simply have to comply with this new measure, under penalty of suspension and severe sanctions.