Nkendem Forbinake
7 April 2008
Minister Philemon Yang also opens national seminar for trainers of the Bilingual Training Programme.
For most of last week, Bertoua was in a do-you-speak-English mood. The first batch of trainees from the town's Bilingualism Training Centre received their attestations from the Minister-Deputy Assistant Secretary General in the Presidency of the Republic Philemon Yang, sitting in for the Minister of State SG/PR. Mr Yang also used the opportunity last Wednesday to open a three-day national seminar for the 80-odd staff of the Bilingual Training Programme drawn from all the other outfits in the country.
The number of trainees - six in all - could be small, but the initiative is significant. The Bertoua centre was opened less than two years ago and already has 1,600 on roll. And as Minister Yang noted in a statement at the graduation ceremony, this high interest is indicative of the fact that Cameroonians in the East Province are aware of the value of bilingualism. In Bertoua this need is particularly welcome because one must deplore the fact that some public edifices carry embarrassing translations in English. Palais de Justice, for example, is translated as Laws Court or still, the Fonds National de l'Emploi signboard carries the English translation as "National Employement Fund. The Minister advised the trainees to regularly speak the other official language not only to enhance career objectives but also to enrich their potential in understanding the complexities and mysteries of an ever-changing world.
The certificate-award ceremony was also used as an occasion to launch a three-day seminar for some 80 teaching staff of the Bilingual Training Programme. The theme of the seminar "Training Engineering: the marketing of training institutions" is all about the rational and efficient planning of training schemes. He who stops learning should stop teaching, Mr Yang reminded the trainers, insisting, along the line, that they remember the Head of State's statement in his end-of-year message on seminars and the necessity to come out with palpable results. "If the Presidency has given its approval for the seminar to hold, it is because we are confident that this seminar will enable you achieve the expected results", Minister Yang said.
The Bilingual Training Programme began in 1985 with an agreement between the British and Cameroonian governments on the teaching of English to civil servants and employees of the public and semi-public sectors. The project formally took off in 1986 with the opening of the Yaounde pilot centre followed by the Douala centre in 1989. Other centres were opened in Buea (1991), Bamenda (1995); Ebolowa (1995); Garoua (2003) and Bertoua (2006). On August 3, 1990, a presidential decree formally created the Bilingual Training Programme.
The Yaounde Pilot Centre has been visited by renowned personalities such as Prince Charles of the United Kingdom.
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