Separating politics from education

Greeting Steemit Family

It’s the first week of school, and for the first time in the past eight years, my kids actually started school right on the first week. Back in Bamenda and other towns in the Anglophone regions, schools usually opened two weeks later because of the crisis.

Here, I can clearly see the gap between communities that have carried the crisis on their heads and those that are only partially involved. My new residential town is in an English-speaking zone, so one would expect the same outcome as other sections of the region. But that is not the case, it is a calmer town. Over the past couple of days, I have been able to drive to town and back, running my errands as though nothing is happening. Meanwhile, those back in other English-speaking towns continue to struggle.

Personally, if we could find a way to separate politics from education, I would be most grateful. Time doesn’t wait for anyone. As days pass, we all grow older. Learning is a process, and humanity has always tried to align education with age and time. Stopping education for political reasons is never the best approach. Tomorrow’s politics needs educated leaders, and we can’t achieve that by holding back children from school today.

I strongly believe that part of what South Africa is facing today comes from the fact that, during their struggle, many black families kept their children out of school while fighting the white minority. Yes, they eventually succeeded in balancing power to some extent, but their youth were not well-educated to handle leadership positions. As a result, they ended up depending on foreigners or on the same whites who kept educating their children.

We should not try to solve a problem today only to create another tomorrow. If we want a better Cameroon now, as every young person does, then the real question is: what is the best approach to bring lasting results? We often admire the West, but I’m not even sure they are doing as well as we think. Let’s focus on our own country and build patriotism and love for our flag.

Every country has its problems, but ours seems to carry the greater share. It’s just like families, every family has its struggles, yet we often feel like ours is worse. Most problems come from self-interest.

• Friends fall out because of self.
• Governments fail to change because of self.
• Families break because of self.

If we can find a way around this, then we are on the path to a solution. But in truth, no one can completely escape self-interest. At best, we compromise by accepting a little discomfort for the sake of peace. But very few people are willing to truly give up their personal interests.

Despite all this, it has been a great week for me. I was so happy seeing my kids off to school and waiting for them to return later in the day on the school bus. I can only hope that, with time, we’ll all begin to understand the value of compromise and work together for a better world.

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Cheers
Thanks for dropping by
@fombae