At launch of new school year: Minister Nalova warns against unlawful levies, mismanagement.

She was speaking while launching the 2026/2027 academic year on the campus of Government Bilingual Technical High School, Nsam.

The Secretary of State to the Minister of Secondary Education in charge of Teacher Training, Bayaola Boniface, and the Secretary General at same ministry, Prof Fabien Nkot, attended yesterday’s launching.

Also present were the crème de la crème of the secondary education sector in the country, administrative authorities led by the Governor of the Centre Region, Naseri Paul Bea, as well as other local authorities. 

Minister Nalova Lyonga described Monday’s event as a significant occasion in the life of her ministry. 

“The start of this new academic year is not merely a routine event on the school calendar. We are renewing ourselves and renewing our work as we meet here today. This is an institutional occasion that makes us remember what we have done and we will be setting the tone for the year ahead,” Minister Nalova Lyonga explained. 

She told stakeholders that the event is an opportunity to “review, state our commitments and look ahead”.

The minister boasted that the theme: “Digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence for inclusive governance, quality learning in a safe and protective environment”, is not merely a catchy slogan but the ministry’s roadmap.

“…that is why you shouldn’t be surprised to see Commonwealth representatives as well as Huawei here. Those are our principal partners,” she added.

No room for leniency 

Speaking further, Minister Nalova Lyonga warned against the compromisation of official examinations. 

She was blunt that: “Every attempt to cheat or compromise the integrity of our examinations will be taken very seriously. This will be the last time that we will be getting the kind of experience that we had this year”.

Citing some major challenges facing the sector, Minister Nalova Lyonga regretted the drop in the overall performance of students.

She admitted existing “structural constraints”, but cautioned that “results achieved so far” shouldn’t make of officials “believe that the battle is won”. 

“Shortcomings in infrastructure and staffing remain…as you know, the teachers are still too mobile for our liking. Teacher-mobility is causing us a lot of problems and we have to see into how we can manage the large body of students that keeps growing,” she said. 

The minister regretted disparities between regions and institutions. Academic performances, she regretted, fall short of their expectations while insufficient alignment between the needs of the job market still bother officials.

This, she said, adds to “malpractices which are entirely of our own making”. Among the malpractices, the minister cited “bribery in recruitment”.

“You are teachers and you are supposed to be the best. Some of the things I am talking about shouldn’t even be on our tables. Bribery: Why are you bribing? Examination fraud, unlawful levies…why do you accept that they should charge people fees which are not in the list? Mismanagement of financial resources, cover up cases of absenteeism…,” she said. 

The minister insisted that: “The post of a Principal is not a post for you to make money. That is what I have seen. As soon as you are appointed Principal, the first thing that comes to your mind is how do I get money from this post? That is why I don’t take people who have two years to go on retirement…so, I don’t give you any promotion if you have just two years to retirement”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3896 of Tuesday September 01, 2026