Représentation sociale de l’école et décrochage scolaire : Cas des Baka de Bengbis (Sud Cameroun).

Abstract

Despite the efforts made by the Cameroonian education policy, we observe that the Baka, like most Pygmies, are in a state of under-education because they drop out unlike other Bantus with whom they share the same school. The study of social representations seems interesting in order to understand not only the meaning that Baka parents develop about their children's school, but also to identify specific cultural positions. Indeed, as Abric (1994a) points out, social representations guide action. The general hypothesis that emerges here is that the dropping out of school for the Baka of Bengbis is linked to their social representations of school. Thus, to better understand these social representations of school among the baka, we interviewed 153 male and female Baka students, who live in rural areas. The data were subjected to quantitative analysis. From this analysis it emerges that the social representations of school among the baka revolve around three themes: the arduousness, the profitability and the self-realization of the school. From the results obtained our hypothesis was confirmed that the social representations of school have a considerable influence on dropping out among the Baka.