The Minister of Secondary Education (Minesec) Pauline Nalova Lyonga recently received, in Yaoundé, 15,000 educational tablets donated by development partners like the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These didactic tools will be distributed to students in national exam classes of the schools selected to benefit from them. In the current context marked by the coronavirus pandemic, these tablets are important since they will help students learn both remotely or in classes.

The school closures prompted by the pandemic contributed to the surge of distance learning in Cameroon. Therefore, to ensure educational continuity, a morning educational program is broadcasted on state-owned television and radio CRTV. Although the concept appeals to the education community, it has some limitations since several students don’t have the required equipment to attend the remote classes.

"The 2020 year marked by the coronavirus pandemic has put a strain on the education system. To recover from those impacts and ensure educational continuity, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have proven to be an adequate alternative. So, it is important to boost access to equipment and internet connection so that no one is left behind," UNESCO commented.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, this UN agency has been collaborating with Cameroonian ministries in charge of the education sector (the Minedub, the Minesec, the Minesup, and the Minefop) in the framework of the "Global Education Coalition."

Launched in March 2020, the coalition aims to help countries address the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, which prevented many students from attending schools worldwide, and ensure continuity (which is the future of education).

According to the Minesec, "distance learning must be adopted in this era marked by the coronavirus pandemic.”

According to figures contained in the "Emergency Covid-19 Response Project in basic education in Cameroon" published in May 2020, in collaboration with UNESCO, "for the 2019-2020 school year, about 1.2 million students will sit for national examinations. 42% of them live in rural areas and 47% are girls.”

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