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Cameroon has restarted entrance exams for ENS and ENSET while nearly 10,000 trained teachers remain outside the civil service.
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Authorities ended automatic civil service integration of ENS and ENSET graduates in 2022, citing budget constraints.
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A teachers’ collective demands priority recruitment and warns of worsening precarity in the education system.
Even before the Minister of Higher Education officially announced, in a January 13 statement, the reopening of entrance exams for the Higher Teacher Training Colleges (ENS) and Higher Technical Teacher Training Colleges (ENSET) for the 2025–2026 academic year, the collective of non-integrated trainee teachers had issued a warning. The group said the system would need at least two to three years to produce the first fully operational teachers. Meanwhile, retirements and resignations continue to accumulate in an education system already under strain.
In this context, the Collective of Graduate Trainee Teachers of ENS and ENSET in Cameroon (CLAL-ENS-CAM) highlights the existence of an already trained workforce. Since 2022, and following the suspension of automatic civil service integration, nearly 10,000 trainee teachers have graduated from the country’s eight ENS and ENSET institutions, according to the collective. These teachers already work in classrooms across the country. “We remain in expectation of a clear and effective framework for recruitment into the civil service,” said Abdou Samid Yatoume, representative of CLAL-ENS-CAM, contacted by SBBC.
Budgetary Constraints
In May 2022, the Minister of Higher Education and the Minister of Public Service informed the Prime Minister that, in line with presidential directives, ENS and ENSET graduates would no longer receive automatic integration into the civil service. Authorities planned the measure to take effect from 2023. The ministers justified the shift by citing the need to harmonize regulations governing teacher recruitment and to align hiring with administrative needs, amid budgetary pressures.
The suspension occurred during a period of social unrest marked by a standoff between teachers and the government. Teachers at the time demanded payment of salary arrears estimated at more than CFA180 billion. In the current phase, the reopening of direct integration exams has revived fears that teachers trained since 2022 could remain excluded from recruitment for an extended period.
Legitimate Expectations and Legal Claims
Teachers grouped within CLAL-ENS-CAM say they fear being sidelined. Abdou Samid Yatoume said, “Trainee teachers admitted from the 2023 academic year onward did not act under error, ignorance, or false expectations regarding their professional status.” The collective argues that teachers trained since then “cannot be excluded from any prospect of integration after completing training that the state officially organized, recognized, and supervised.”
The group also bases its argument on legal grounds. It refers to an interministerial letter dated May 19, 2022, which implemented presidential directives on teachers’ status. Point D of the document states that from 2023 onward, training at ENS and ENSET remains separate from civil service integration, which should rely on specific mechanisms organized by competent authorities according to education sector needs.
The collective argues that these directives remain in force and “enshrine the fundamental principles of legal certainty and protection of legitimate expectations.” According to the group, these principles prevent the administration from overturning expectations created among trainee teachers without an explicit legal basis or appropriate transitional measures. Consequently, any revision of the 2022 directives should, in the group’s view, prioritize the recruitment of teachers already trained by the state.
Precarious Employment Conditions
On the ground, CLAL-ENS-CAM describes fragile employment conditions. “We generally work as temporary teachers under particularly precarious arrangements,” Yatoume said. He explained that institutions calculate pay by the number of teaching hours delivered, without guaranteed monthly workloads, social protection, or clear career prospects.
He added that institutions typically pay about 1,000 CFA francs per teaching hour, and sometimes less depending on the school. He said this system makes it difficult to secure a stable monthly income, as teaching hours fluctuate widely between institutions and from one month to another.
Electoral Promises
By the end of each month, many teachers struggle to cover basic living expenses, even though they perform the same teaching duties, in the same subjects, and often with similar workloads as their counterparts integrated into the civil service. At this stage, Yatoume said, these teachers have neither an identified institutional interlocutor nor a clear and formalized government position on their situation.
This context explains the motion of support submitted on November 17, 2025, to President Paul Biya following his re-election. The document reiterates the demands of trainee teachers after the president pledged to reopen direct integration exams. The collective deposited the motion at the Presidency.
This article was initially published in French by Ludovic Amara
Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum