Africa continues on an unprecedented growth trajectory and innovation plays an increasingly important role in the development and realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), mathematics education has been highlighted as a vital catalyst for the rearing of students who are problem-solvers and thought leaders.
The MasterCard Foundation, CAMTEL, and Google have partnered with the Ministries of Secondary Education and Higher Education and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) to launch a Mathematics Teacher Training Program (MTTP) in Cameroon to build a pipeline of excellent mathematics students who will drive Cameroon’s development forward.
The MTTP in Cameroon is a five year pilot program expected to enhance the quality of secondary school mathematics education in both the Francophone and Anglophone education sub-systems in Cameroon.
According to Mr Jean Ernest Massena NGALLE BIBEHE, Minister of Secondary Education in a statement, “The program will ensure that knowledge, skills and confidence are enhanced to improve the quality of the teaching and the learning of mathematics in Cameroon.”
The MTTP program will provide training to student-teachers at the pre-service stage, and facilitate opportunities for up-skilling of existing in-service teachers and inspectors, update the curriculum, launch an ICT network for math’s teachers across the country and raise public awareness of the importance of maths for national development.
The partners also aim to look at the education policy to ensure consistent quality control of teacher qualification and assessment criteria; update and standardize curriculum content and to increase investment in teacher training.
The MTTP’s “train the trainer approach” will ensure that all the lecturers (approximately 50) at the three HTTCs (High Teacher Training Colleges), including the HTTTC (High Technical Teacher Training Colleges) in Kumba, are equipped to effectively train approximately 1,200 pre-service and 1,920 in-service math teachers who are ultimately responsible for over 1.7 million secondary school students across the country.
The program will increase the transition rates between educational levels in science and mathematics, especially for girls.
“We look forward to the impact that the MTTP will have on Cameroon’s education system and on building the pipeline of mathematics students who will lead the economic and technological advancement of the country and of Africa in the future,” said Prof. Jacques FAME NDONGO, Minister of Higher Education.