Francophonie in Cameroon: a leap back in time
As a direct result of colonization, Cameroon's education system is based on European (and especially French) curricula, but most schools use textbooks that are second-hand, or even considered obsolete by the French national education system, and which are shipped to schools in French-speaking Africa. Teachers' teaching methods, too, are not very progressive, and are sometimes even very classic and attached to textbooks, discipline and recitation. In fact, you'll find that the vast majority of primary school children wear their school uniforms every day.
It's a phenomenon that may seem simple, but it has a considerable impact on the cultural gaps that still exist between Cameroon and France, for example, and that have existed for more than four generations. This is particularly evident in the local language, word usage and vocabulary used in French in Cameroon (and French-speaking Africa in general).
To this day, if you listen carefully, you'll quickly notice that Cameroonians speak a slightly old-fashioned style of French, using expressions that you don't hear much in France any more (except from your grandparents), and which give conversations a certain charm and cachet.
Expressions such as "avoir du toupet" to describe someone's nerve, verbs like "disconvenir de quelque chose" to express disagreement or the use of a "chignole" to drill holes in a wall are all everyday words that blend with local slang to make this everyday language a colorful one.
Education
In Cameroon, education plays an important role in society and in people's mindsets, and has been one of the government's priorities for some years now. A large proportion of Cameroon's children attend school, and most villages have primary and nursery schools. There are fewer secondary schools (around 5 per department), but there are several types of education: public, secular and denominational. As for higher education, there are 5 major public universities in Cameroon and one denominational university. The disciplines taught in these universities are medicine, law and political science, humanities, science, economics and management. There are also a number of schools specializing in electronics, IT, journalism and the food industry. The elementary school enrolment rate is 65%, and the literacy rate for the population over the age of 15 is 82% (2017). However, the challenge is not an easy one for the country, which often suffers from overcrowded classrooms.
Contraception and childbirth
In Cameroonian society, statistics show, unsurprisingly, that the more educated a woman is, the more she uses contraception. The percentage of women using a contraceptive method rises from over 10% among uneducated women to almost 50% among women with higher education.
Note: more than half of all births in rural areas take place at home. This rate falls as one approaches the cities, to less than 15% in Yaoundé, the capital.
Women's place in society
In the hierarchy of gendered roles in Cameroonian society, women hold a position of inferiority. Thus, in discourse, opinions still openly express adherence to traditional models that require women to live under the constraints imposed by the patriarchal framework. These norms are rooted in the traditions of many ethnic groups, and form an integral part of the individual's socialization process. However, in the current context, behaviors are increasingly deviating from them, showing a real evolution on this subject.
In most ethnic groups in Cameroon, traditional marriage is an alliance between two families in which the woman is exchanged for material compensation (the dowry).
In this transaction, the woman chooses a future husband from among her suitors, and in the event of divorce, in some ethnic groups, the man can only comply with the woman's decision to leave him for a better match.
On the other hand, among the Peuls (North Cameroon), marriage is also arranged by both families, but the woman, often very young, has no opportunity to express her choice at the time of marriage.
Polygamy is still practiced in Cameroon by some ethnic groups. The first wives may intervene in the choice of a new wife. There is a play of subordination and prerogatives attributed by seniority in the polygamous family structure.
In a society still imbued with traditions that are difficult to break, and in which women are clearly assigned to purely domestic aspects, we can nevertheless observe the subtle exercise of women's authority over household finances. Indeed, entrepreneurship is one of the hallmarks of contemporary Cameroonian society, and the difficult living conditions of the working classes have for generations required women's active participation in household income.
In rural areas, women cultivate the fields and sell the harvest on the market, while in town they set up small fast-food businesses, enter the hairdressing and beauty markets (a flourishing market in Cameroon), resell all kinds of goods, teach, and more recently drive cabs and make home deliveries. They save and meet at "tontines", monthly contribution meetings that enable each member to benefit once a year from all pooled funds, with the aim of carrying out a project of her choice.
The place of women in Cameroonian society is not without its subtleties and complexities, and although many advances towards gender equality have yet to be achieved, they are already the subject of a daily struggle.
