(Business in Cameroon) - Philémon Yang, the Cameroonian prime minister, announced in a circular signed on November 23, 2017, that from the 2018-2019 academic year, Cameroon’s government will guarantee free French, English, mathematics, computer science and civism textbooks in the public primary schools of Cameroon.

These textbooks will be available in primary schools in zones of educational priority (Far-north, North, and Adamaoua). In this regard, Cameroon will ensure tax cuts on products that are necessary for the local manufacturing of books.  

The textbooks will now be in use for six years. “In respect to the peculiarities of every educational system, only one textbook must be used to teach every course in the formal curriculum throughout the country. Only that textbook must be used by students for the courses being taught”, Philémon Yang explained. He also promised to stop the change of textbooks every academic year.

The government also committed to promoting the use of textbooks and reading in general by not only involving decentralized territorial units (local libraries for instance) but also by facilitating the digitalization of those teaching tools through digital libraries.  

S.A