In Cameroon, after three long weeks of strikes in many public and secondary schools in the public sector, the authorities and trade unions have managed to agree and set a timetable, in particular for full pay from the end of March 2022.
The unions, which have not announced a strike, hope that the striking teachers, united in the movement “We supported too much” (OTS) will quickly resume lessons. Roger Kaffo, from the National Autonomous Syndicate of Secondary Education (Snaes) is therefore pleased, but he reminds that if the state does not keep its commitments from the end of March, the dissatisfaction movement can resume: “We believe there is a long way to go. We want do not be naive. But maybe this path has really started. We should check it because we have 21,000 teachers, some of whom have not eaten properly for several years.
“They work without pay” “They work without pay, Roger Kaffo continues. And it is really already this daily crisis situation that we want to see resolved at the end of March, wages and non-housing … that is, actually the ability to sleep under “And we want this to be resolved in a comprehensive and verifiable way by the end of March. And if it does, it will be a really obvious sign of goodwill on the part of the state.”
For the authorities, this agreement with the unions should enable the classes to resume. Grégoire Owona, Minister for Labor and Social Security, believes that teachers can now be calm: “After all these long weeks of discussions with teachers, I think we must first acknowledge that they demanded that they pay and that the government has acknowledged, which puts us in a state of calm to the extent that the government has taken, following instructions from the President of the Republic, to solve these problems from the month of March.
“The priority is to get them back to work” “So, says Grégoire Owona again, we will continue to work with teachers because there are malfunctions and other things that have been condemned for which he must find sustainable solutions. “It’s not about breaking it, it’s about treating the fever so that we return to normal and that the teachers are calm. Solutions to the problems are in place. I think the priority is to get them back to work.”
►Also read: Teachers’ strike in Cameroon: President Biya announces several actions
