Projets éducatifs et scolarisation des enfants pygmées de l’arrondissement d’Abong Mbang

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyse the causes of the low schooling of pygmy children in the district of Abong Mbang, despite the existence of numerous educational projects implemented by state and non-state actors in their favour. Indeed, during the 2020- 2021 school year, barely 170 Baka children are educated throughout the district out of a total number of 8,126 students, or 2.09%. Since then, this study is a reflexion in the way of resolving this issues ; that is why it falls within the field of educational sciences. The qualitative analysis used was carried out with 17 people from the educational community interviewed using a semi-directive interview guide. The content analysis mobilizing the Theories of school abandonment and school perseverance revealed that two main reasons accounted for the low school enrolment rates of pygmy children in the district of Abong Mbang: persistence and remanence of factual, cultural, economic and socio-political factors that explain the school dropout of Pygmy children, on the one hand, the low involvement of Pygmy populations in the life cycle of educational projects, as well as their punctual, unsustainable nature and non-participatory and often not adapted to the pygmy way of life, on the other hand. As a recommendation, we suggest a paradigm shift in the schooling project for pygmy children, which must move from a paradigm of aid to a paradigm of empowerment.