G.S.S. Nkong

The Government Secondary School in Nkong was constructed in 2012. Before, the closest high school was in Besali. Having a school much closer to home has encouraged a lot of students to continue their education after primary school. Villages which are associated with the school include Nkong, lower Fonjumetaw, lower Fossongu, lower Ndungateh, upper Bayang villages, Besali, and Bangang.

Once of the main challenges faced by Nkong is the isolation. The teachers at this level have often completed much of their training in the big cities. They are used to having water tabs and electricity in their home. Working in a town like Nkong where electricity has just reached the town center in 2016 and water is still fetched at the river or the communal taps, is hard for the teachers that are posted here. Often they stay for the minimum required duration. This results in a high turnover rate, adding an additional challenge to keeping the students’ educational experience at high quality.

The isolation and limited amount of electricity also makes it difficult to have access to resources like libraries and computers.

The community is encouraged by the new classrooms and is looking at plans on how to pull the electricity from the town center to the school.

In February of 2017, an ICA delegation visited the schools under construction. At the time of the monitoring visit, a strike action disrupted the normal functioning of schools in the English-speaking provinces. ICA is looking forward to meeting students and teachers in the future!