3. PRESENTATION OF THE FACILITY 

The Regional Teachers' Initiative in Africa (RTIA), a program funded by the EU/EC through the Education section (G3) of DG INTPA, aims to improve learning outcomes and the socio-emotional development of children in Africa by having a more competent, motivated, and inclusive teaching staff in basic education. The RTIA will particularly seek to achieve the following results over the next 6 years:

1.    Improve the governance, management, attractiveness, and gender balance of the teaching profession, with a strong focus on increased digitization and innovation.

2.    Improve the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of initial and continuous professional development of teachers, notably through digital education, peer learning approaches, and regional collaboration.

As part of the RTIA, the Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa (RTIA) - Facility will support teacher policy and improve teacher training and professional development systems by i) providing capacity building at the national level through technical assistance, ii) promoting innovation and scaling up effective pedagogical solutions; iii) increasing the production and use of data and evidence, and iv) promoting the use of regional frameworks, evidence-based practices, and joint learning at the regional level. The Regional Facility for Teachers in Africa (RFTA) will achieve the aforementioned objectives through 3 types of instruments or "windows": i) a window to provide technical assistance on teacher governance and teacher training and professional development based on the demand of eligible partner countries, ii) a window to test and scale up effective teacher training and professional development programs in the thematic areas of digital skills, gender, green skills, and pedagogical skills, including in the context of refugees and displaced populations, iii) a research window to create new evidence and support the integration of evidence into policy decision-making and the design of teacher training and professional development programs.

In addition to these windows, the Facility's knowledge management and communication activities will further contribute to the sharing of knowledge, evidence, and best practices related to the overall outcomes of the Initiative.

The Facility is funded by the European Union and co-implemented by the Partnership formed by three member state agencies: Expertise France for France, Enabel, VVOB, and APEFE for Belgium, EDUFI for Finland. Expertise France has been designated as the Coordinating Agency of this Partnership. With the Facility's governance scheme serving as the Initiative's governance scheme, it is planned that the Partnership will work closely with UNESCO and the African Union Commission (AUC), in charge of the other 2 components of the European Union (EU) Initiative.

The duration of the action is planned from 01.02.2024 to 31.01.2027 (36 months) with a budget of EUR 46,000,000.

RESEN (2019) and PASEC (2019): cross-analysis of the results of RESEN, PASEC and a national evaluation carried out in 2016 by the Ministry of Basic Education's Learning outcome Evaluation Unit (Minedub) shows that the quality of learning is a challenge in Cameroon, with persistent low levels of learning achievement at primary level. For example, at the end of the primary cycle, 46.7% of sixth grate pupils are below the language proficiency threshold. The quality factors identified in the multivariate analyses of prior learning assessments provide a number of practical lessons that point to the need to improve teaching practices and the inadequacy of in-service teacher training.

Articulated with Sustainable Development Goal 4 and Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU), the strategic orientations adopted by the Cameroonian authorities in the education sector are mainly recalled in three key documents:

·       The SSEF 2023-2030 has established a strategic axis "Relevance and Quality of Training". The vision is of: (a) an education system with a professional teaching/training staff, trained for the profession and capable of addressing development priorities in training programs in line with international standards, which implies "teachers/trainers adapted to socio-economic realities and the learning context" and "continuous training of teachers/trainers", (b) an education system promoting the values of living together and contributing to the strengthening of economic and cultural patriotism through "increased practice of bi-plurilingualism and promotion of multiculturalism in all layers of society through the creation and implementation of specific school programs from preschool". The action plan of Cameroon within the framework of the Facility thus contributes to operationalizing the vision developed in the Education and Training Sector Strategy.

·       The National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (SND30). The SND30 articulates the country's internal and international commitments on economic, social, and environmental levels. It builds on lessons learned from the implementation of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (DSCE). One of the four pillars of the SND30 concerns the education sector with the pillar "Human Capital Development and Well-being". Thus, in the education and training sector, the country envisions "promoting an educational system where every young graduate is sociologically integrated, bilingual, competent in a key area for the country's development, and aware of what they need to do to contribute to it".

·       Law No. 98/004 of April 4, 1998, on the orientation of education in Cameroon. This law sets the general legal framework for education in Cameroon and applies to preschool, primary, general and technical secondary education, as well as normal education. 

Partnership Pact

Cameroon will soon benefit from funds from the Global Partnership for Education. The priority reform identified by Cameroon in the Partnership Pact concerns improving the quality of learning through the professionalization of the teaching profession. This reform aims, among other things, to contribute to transforming the educational system through professional, motivated, and performing teachers for equitable, inclusive, and quality learning.

Reform of ENIEG

In Cameroon, the initial training of basic education teachers is managed by the Ministry of Secondary Education (Minesec). In 2023, Decree No. 2023/434 of October 4, 2023, on the organization and functioning of Normal Schools for Teachers repealed the previous provisions contained in Decree No. 80/195 of June 9, 1980. Future teachers must now hold a baccalaureate and undergo two years of training at the Normal School for General Education Teachers (ENIEG). The Ministry of Basic Education (Minedub) has officially requested Minesec to update the training curricula, particularly the introduction of didactics of bi-plurilingualism and national languages. Additionally, national authorities initiated a reform of ENIEG in 2023. The action on initial teacher training is part of this reform. Minedub has submitted a request to Minesec to update the training curricula for student teachers in ENIEG.

Digitalization

In 2007, Minedub published the first policy and strategy document on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for education after a comprehensive stakeholder engagement. An update of this document, titled "ICT Policy and Strategic Framework for Basic Education in Cameroon", was completed in 2022 following lessons learned from Covid-19. The objective of this ICT policy and implementation framework is to ensure that ICT is effectively integrated into the basic education sub-sector to achieve the goals defined in the SSEF.

Decentralization

In terms of local governance, the first competencies were transferred to municipalities by the central state in 2010. In accordance with the principle of progressivity, in 2018, 63 competencies were transferred by 21 ministries.

In practice, all decrees related to decentralization have been published. While decentralization has made progress in basic education with the involvement of local authorities in managing schools (construction and rehabilitation of primary and preschool schools, management of the minimum package, etc.), this involvement remains dependent on the implementation of decentralization at the national level.

4.2 CONTEXT OF THE PAP - LINKAGE WITH PREVIOUS WORK

On June 6, 2024, the Facility of the Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa (RTIA) received a request for technical assistance from the Directorate of Planning, Projects, and Cooperation (DPPC) of the Ministry of Basic Education (MINEDUB) of Cameroon. This request was formally approved on August 26, 2024. A team of experts from the Facility then visited Yaoundé from October 14 to 17, 2024. As part of the preparatory work for this mission and the discussions that continued afterward, consultations and collaborative work with key teams and partners in the education sector in Cameroon led to the design of a country action plan (PAP) tailored to meet the needs expressed in the initial request. This plan is structured around four main technical areas: (1) initial training of preschool and primary school teachers, (2) continuous teacher training, (3) teachers' digital skills, and (4) teacher governance.

The Cameroon PAP, lasting 16 months, includes technical assistance actions aligned with national priorities concerning teachers. It must (i) address the real needs of the partner, (ii) be coordinated with the interventions of technical and financial partners to allow for synergy and avoid overlaps, and (iii) fit into ongoing reforms.

To date, only the package of activities covering Action 1.1 ‘Integrating inclusive approaches to the pedagogy and didactics of bi-plurilingualism (multilingual teaching) into the initial training of pre-school and primary school teachers - in both sub-systems’ is being implemented. Activity 1.1.1 ‘Drawing up an inclusive framework document for the introduction of bi-plurilingualism in the initial training programme for student teachers (entry and exit profile of the bi-plurilingual student teacher, bi-plurilingualism competency framework)’ is nearing completion.