Cameroon is an African nation of about 23 million people. Known for its geological and cultural diversity, Cameroon is home to more than 200 linguistic groups. 

 

School-age Population by Education Level1

4,016,393

 

2,274,712

Secondary

 

Tertiary

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Secondary Education
for the school year ending 20161

55.4%

 

64.6%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Tertiary Education
for the school year ending 20171

11.4%

 

14.1%

Female

 

Male

 

 

Percentage of female teachers in 1

34.8%

 

20.1%

Secondary (2016)

 

Tertiary (2014)

 

 

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in March 2020

 

Literacy rate (2010)1

64.8%

 

78.3%

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Female

 

Adult (15+) literacy rate
Male

 

 

Economic Activity (2010)1

53%

 

64%

Adult (15+) economic activity
Female

 

Adult (15+) economic activity
Male

 

 

Political Decision Making (2014)1

31%

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

 

 

Life expectancy (2012)1

57

 

55

Female

 

Male

 

 

1. COL gender country profile April 2015 

 

2.4 69.1
Fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
0.1 23.7
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1 Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants1

 

 

  
16.9 23.2
Households with a computer (%)1 Individuals using the internet (%)1

 

 

1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ICT Eye Country profile, retrieved in March 2020

 

Highlights

COL’s work in Cameroon is primarily in the areas of higher education and open educational resources (OER) for skill development.

Higher Education

  • COL worked with the University of Buea to develop an institutional open and distance learning (ODL) and quality assurance policy.
  • COL continued to help policy makers, institutions and leaders in higher education harness the potential of ODL and technology, to enable them to cope with the increasing demand for quality higher education in the face of rising costs and diminishing public funding. COL has developed action plans aligned with the priorities of specific countries, including Cameroon, to increase access to quality higher education and forge partnerships with international and regional organisa­tions to leverage impact.

Learn more about Higher Education.

Technology-Enabled Learning

  • COL worked with Cameroon’s Ministry of Basic Education and Ministry of Secondary Education to launch a national advocacy and sensitisation project, introducing OER to over 300 policy makers in the country’s ten regions. Further, ten regional OER guidelines were drafted, catering to the specific needs of Anglophone and Francophone regions. Phase 1 of the Upskill Project for Nursing and Paramedical Professionals in Cameroon was initiated in 2017 to enhance the skills of nurses and para-medical professionals such as midwives and public health officers.
  • 9 teachers from Cameroon participated in the two cohorts of the Introduction to Technology-Enabled Learning (TEL) MOOC offered in 2017.

Learn more about Technology-Enabled Learning.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector.

COL's partners in Cameroon include:

  •  Ministry of Basic Education
  •  Ministry of External Relations
  •  Ministry of Higher Education
  •  Ministry of Secondary Education
  •  University of Buea
  •  University of Yaoundé