3. PRESENTATION OF THE FACILITY 

The Regional Teacher Initiative for Africa (RTIA), a programme 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 ensuring that teachers are more competent, motivated and inclusive 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 digitalisation and innovation.

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

In this context, the Regional Teacher Initiative for Africa (RTIA) - Facility will support teacher policies and contribute to improving teacher training and professional development systems by (i) providing technical assistance for capacity building at the national level, (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 Teacher Initiative for Africa (RTIA) - Facility will achieve the above objectives through three 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 programmes 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 generate new data and support the integration of findings into policy-making and the design of teacher training and professional development programmes.

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 results of the Initiative.

The Facility is funded by the European Union and co-implemented by the Partnership formed by three agencies of the Member States: Expertise France for France, Enabel, VVOB and APEFE for Belgium, and EDUFI for Finland. Expertise France has been designated as the Coordinating Agency for this Partnership. With the Facility's governance structure serving as the governance structure for the Initiative, the Partnership is expected to work closely with UNESCO and the African Union Commission (AUC), which are responsible for the other two components of the European Union (EU) Initiative.

The action is scheduled to run from 1 February 2024 to 31 January 2027 (36 months) with a budget of EUR 46,000,000.

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

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

• The SSEF 2023-2030 has set a strategic priority of "Relevance and quality of training". The vision is: (a) an education system with a corps of professional teachers/trainers who are trained in their profession and in , capable of ensuring that development priorities are taken into account in training programmes in line with international standards, which implies, in particular, "teachers/trainers who are adapted to the socio-economic realities and the learning context" and "continuing training for teachers/trainers"; (b) an education system that promotes the values of living together and contributes to strengthening economic and cultural patriotism through "increased bi-plurilingualism and the promotion of multiculturalism in all layers of society through the creation and implementation of specific school programmes starting from preschool". Cameroon's action plan under the Facility therefore contributes to operationalising the vision developed in the Education and Training Sector Strategy.
• The National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (SND30). The SND30 articulates the country's domestic and international commitments in the economic, social and environmental fields. It builds on the lessons learned from the implementation of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP). 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's vision is to "promote an education system that produces graduates who are sociologically integrated, bilingual, competent in a field that is crucial to the country's development, and aware of what they must do to contribute to it".
• Law No. 98/004 of April 4, 1998, on the orientation of education in Cameroon. This law establishes the general legal framework for education in Cameroon and applies to pre-primary, primary, general secondary and technical education, as well as teacher training.

Partnership Pact

Cameroon will soon benefit from funds from the Global Partnership for Education. The priority reform adopted by Cameroon in the Partnership Agreement concerns improving the quality of learning through the professionalisation of the teaching profession. Among other things, this reform should contribute to the transformation of the education system through professional, motivated and effective teachers for equitable, inclusive and quality learning.

Reform of ENIEG

In Cameroon, initial teacher training is managed by the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC). In 2023, Decree No. 2023/434 of 4 October 2023 on the organisation and functioning of teacher training colleges repealed the previous provisions contained in Decree No. 80/195 of 9 June 1980. Future teachers must now hold a baccalaureate and undergo two years of training at the Ecole normale des instituteurs de l'enseignement général (ENIEG). The Ministry of Basic Education (MINEDUB) has officially submitted a request to MINESEC for an update of the training curricula, in particular the introduction of teaching methods for bilingualism and national languages.  In addition, the national authorities launched a reform of the ENIEG in 2023. The action on initial teacher training is a continuation of this reform. MINEDUB has submitted a request to MINESEC to update the training curricula for student teachers at ENIEG.

Digitalization

In 2007, MINEDUB published the first policy and strategy document on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for education following a comprehensive commitment by all stakeholders. This document, entitled "ICT Policy and Strategic Framework for Basic Education in Cameroon", was updated in 2022 following the lessons learned from Covid-19. The objective of this ICT policy and strategic implementation framework is to ensure that ICTs are effectively integrated into the basic education sub-sector in order to achieve the objectives set out in the SSEF.

Decentralization

In terms of local governance, the first powers were transferred to municipalities by the central government in 2010. In accordance with the principle of gradualism, in 2018, 63 powers were transferred by 21 ministries. The SND30 plans to increase the share of resources transferred to decentralised local authorities to at least 15% of the State budget by 2025. In practice, not all decrees relating to decentralisation are published in full. While decentralisation has made progress in basic education with the involvement of local authorities in the management of schools (construction and rehabilitation of primary and preschools, management of the minimum package, etc.), this involvement remains dependent on the implementation of decentralisation at the national level.

4.2 CONTEXT OF THE PAP - LINKAGE WITH PREVIOUS WORK

On 6 June 2024, the Regional Teacher Initiative for Africa (RTIA) Facility 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 26 August 2024. A team of experts from the Facility then visited Yaoundé from 14 to 17 October 2024. As part of the preparatory work for this mission, but also following discussions that continued after the mission, consultations and collaborative work with key teams and partners in the education sector in Cameroon led to the design of a country action plan (CAP) tailored to meet the needs expressed in the initial request. The plan focuses on four main technical areas: (1) initial training for preschool and primary school teachers, (2) continuing training for teachers, (3) teacher governance, and (4) teachers' digital skills. 

The 16-month CAP for Cameroon includes technical assistance activities aligned with national priorities for teachers. It must (i) respond to the partner's real needs, (ii) be coordinated with the interventions of technical and financial partners to enable synergies and avoid overlaps, and (iii) fit into ongoing reforms. At this stage, the first action aimed at integrating bi-plurilingualism into the initial training of teacher trainees has received support from the Facility through the mobilisation of expertise.

The following activities are therefore underway: (i) development of an inclusive policy framework document for the introduction of bi-plurilingualism into the initial teacher training programme (entry and exit profiles for bi-plurilingual teacher trainees, reference framework for bi-plurilingual skills); (ii) development of national language and culture programmes for teacher trainees, (iii) development of bi-plurilingual teaching programmes for teacher trainees, (iv) development of training modules on bi-plurilingual teaching and national cultures for trainers (ENIEG)