Mwelle Kunz Mbai, Principal, CCAS, Kumba

 
Can you please take us down history and tell us about the origins of this very important institution?

Mwelle Kunz Mbai, Principal,

Cameroon College of Arts and Science was created in 1973 as an essentially Second cycle school but it became necessary that a first cycle be created. This was done in 1982 making it a complete Lyce as the francophone calls it. It has been functioning like that. The first principal here was the Honourable Sona Elonge and thereafter we’ve had a series of principals who have taken care of the aesthetic and the pedagogic development of the school. I came to CCAS Kumba as principal in the year 2000 and I was here for five years that is from 2000 to 2005. Then I went over to Lyce Bilingue D’Application in Yaounde where I worked for two years and came back here. I have been in CCAS Kumba since then.

CCAS Kumba has gone through a tumultuous history with some ups and downs with regards to its position as a leading institution and the attention Government gives it.

Signs of heightened Security at the entrance to the school CCAS Kumba

Like a human being, CCAS Kumba has had its peak and low periods. These ups and downs range from infrastructure, lack of teachers, poor results and a few other things. But I think for quite some time now we have seen a lot of improvement especially in the results of CCAS Kumba. We have equally seen a good improvement in the staffing situation of CCAS Kumba. Here I want to pay tribute and give thanks to His Excellency Louis Bapes Bapes, the Minister of Secondary Education for not forgetting CCAS Kumba when ever need be. Again I think that there are still a lot of problems. Some people feel that when you are in the township, the teaching population is quite much but its not always the case. I was just trying to draw a list of my PTA Part time teachers and there are twenty five part time teachers already. The situation is not very okay. If it were, we will not be taking twenty five part time teachers. It terms of population, the school has evolved. When I used to be here in the year 2000, the population was not up to two thousand but today I want to tell you that last year we were about 4200.

And in terms of results…
 
Yes in terms of results it has evolved in a way that has made us proud. Our results in terms of the number of successful students that we have churned out is among the best in Cameroon. In terms of manpower production, I think we have no rival. I will give you an example. In the 2015 June session for the GCE Ordinary Level we put in 782 candidates and 425 passed giving us a percentage score of 54.35. I think there is no other school with that type of population succeeding. For the A Levels, we put in 919 candidates and 633 passed giving us a percentage pass of 68.88. Here again I will say with a lot of confidence that there is no other school which has sent out that number of successful students. In terms of quality and quantity our results were good.

Many will want to emulate your example. How did you turn things around because the CCAS you met wasn’t this good from the perspective of results..
 
The first thing is the way you manage your human resources. You can have the best of teachers but if you don’t manage them well they will not give you the necessary results. The way we collaborate is very important. We are each other’s keeper. We work in collaboration. In fact, we are a team. If you see students leaving other schools to come here, it is because they have heard may be from their friends that if you go to CCAS you will certainly make you’re A Levels because of the way we work here. These are some of the reasons why we make these results. There is a close follow up both of teachers and students and we try as much as possible to see that we have effective syllabus coverage through regular meetings and concertations. It is not easy but God has given us the energy, the stamina and the time to do all that.

What is your general appraisal of the way the secondary education family in the Southwest Region is run?

I think we work in perfect harmony with our Regional Delegation and the Divisional Delegations. They always make visits and there are always pedagogic inspectors coming around to see. Some of our teachers just left school and therefore need follow up reason why the visits of these inspectors are very useful. It’s not like they come here looking for faults. Each time they come, we have working sessions from which these teachers learn. We equally have what we call internal pedagogic inspection where the older teachers in the school try to supervise the younger ones and afterwards they call them for some workshops where we tell them their weaknesses and what they should do. We don’t leave these teachers in the first cycle but rather we give these young ones who have just come, a chance to teach in the second cycle. Gradually they become used to teaching in the second cycle so that in the event where an older teacher leaves there is somebody there to fit in their shoes.

What measures are being put in place to beef up security in such a huge institution like CCAS Kumba?
 
You will agree with me that to assure security is not easy. We have two metal detectors that are used at the gate. Before coming in each visitor drops their Identity Cards and indicate exactly who they have come to see and a description of the person you have come to see for us to be sure that you know the person you came to see. We have equally stepped up security by increasing the number of security guards we have on campus. They are doing a good job and we sometimes talk to the students and teachers on security issues. Strange faces are advised to be reported immediately to authorities and they are advised not to panic when they find themselves in such a situation. We have taken all the necessary measures to assure security in this school.

What is the nature of the relationship between this institution that you head and its ex-students association?
 
That is where you will be surprised. I have realized that the ex-students of CCAS Kumba don’t have an association and hardly come back to see how their school is functioning. To the best of my knowledge they don’t have one because I have not seen them come here. The only people who have tried to show some concern are the students in the University of Buea. They sometimes come here to share their experiences with their younger ones especially during holidays. Those in Polytechnics, in CCUS come here to prepare the younger ones for the competitive exams.

You certainly have a message for hierarchy and other educational stakeholders..
 
I am making a serious appeal to the ex-students of CCAS Kumba to think about their Alma-matter. We are here working and we think that they too have something to contribute to make this school succeed. To my students I call on them to be disciplined for when you have discipline all other things follow. Parents should understand that sending a child to school is not just enough. Paying the school fees is not enough. The children need text books and follow up from the parents. We are open to working and collaborating with parents. Unfortunately parents hardly come for meetings when they are called. Sometimes less than a hundred parents come for meetings in a school like ours with more than 4000 students. I seize this opportunity to thank hierarchy for what they have been doing in CCAS Kumba. This goes to the Divisional Delegate, the Regional Delegate and the Minister of Secondary Education. They always listen to our problems and are always there with a pat on our backs to push us forth.


cameroonpeople.blogspot.com/ Email: francoeko@gmail.com/ Tel: +237678401408/ +237696896001