Education is a major component of empowerment and sustainable development because once it has been achieved, can never be removed.

Through the CIC-ICA partnership, our education program funds new classrooms in impoverished communities of Cameroon.

This program was developed within a holistic participatory planning approach that includes:

  • Upgrading the skill levels of volunteer parent teachers as well as the few professional teachers that do exist in the region
  • Supporting payment of additional PTA teachers, if needed
  • Providing didactic materials and tools including textbooks and uniforms
  • Provide a focus on educating the girl child
  • Through awards and ceremony, provide a focus on rewarding academic accomplishment and celebrating achievements in order to shift attitudes contra education and to foster excellence

It is remarkable how far our donated funds can be stretched, a new 2-classroom school (including latrines) costs only USD 25,000, and has been proven to improve the lives of an entire community.

PTA teachers
Qualified Teacher Funding

Across Cameroon, parent-teacher associations (PTA) work hard to improve the level of education. These groups raise funds for classroom materials, salaries for qualified teachers, and to maintain the schools themselves. ICA is proud to partner with these PTAs, and we provide funding to 10 teachers across 6 of our sponsored schools in order to augment their monthly salaries. Many of the teachers who are receiving this additional salary, putting them more in-line with teacher salaries in other areas, are using the funds to further their own education so that they can bring more to their roles as educators.

Textbooks and Uniforms

Part of our commitment at ICA is to ensure that our programs are accessible to the entire community, in the case of the education program; this includes regular interviews with school authorities, members of the parent-teacher association, and the expertise of Cameroon’s Centre for International Cooperation.

Through these discussions, we realised that simply building classrooms was not enough to improve the level of education in the communities we serve.  Enrolment rates continued to be low, as many families could not afford the necessary uniform, textbooks, and other supplies that are needed by each student.

In order to better serve the needs of the communities, each new classroom program includes funding for uniforms, textbooks and uniforms – hundreds of uniforms and thousands of textbooks – because every child has the right to an education.

Njilap students inside new school (2014)
Latrines

An integral part of every classroom project are latrines. Latrines are separated for pupils and teachers, as well as between the sexes.

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