WE RING THE BELL CAMPAIGN
The sensitization campaign of families and communities for the education of children with disabilities
dubbed “We Ring the Bell” 2022, under the theme “Leave no child Behind”, took place on April 27, 2022 at the Yaounde Town Hall. Organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs in collaboration with the Ministries of Basic Education, Secondary and Higher Education as well as our technical partner the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS), the campaign seeks to sensitize the public on education for children with disabilities in order to achieve Goal 4 of the SDGs which call on member states to promote inclusive and quality education for all learners.
There was the presentation of the term of reference of the campaign by Mrs. Ambe Bih Mundi the Director of Social Protection of Persons with Disability and the Elderly. This was followed by a message of the Executive Director of the Cameroon Baptist Health Services Professor Tih Pius who reiterated the importance of education for children with disability. He equally highlighted some of the actions carried out by CBCHS in favour of education for children with disability and insisted that equal learning opportunities should be given to all for a sustainable world. The children for the Government Bilingual High School Bafoussam acted a dram on inclusive education and leaving no child behind by demonstrating that disability is not inability. The representative of the Minister of Secondary Education took the floor and highlighted action that are been carried out at the level of their ministerial department in favour of children with disabilities. Students with disabilities animated the campaign with music where they demonstrated their dancing skills.
The Minister of Social Affairs Mrs. Pauline Irene NGUENE took the floor for the launching speech of the campaign. She raised an alarming rate of 90% of children with disability who cannot access education nationwide and worldwide as well as the fact that inclusive education remains a real concern worldwide. She reiterated the need for overcoming barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all, as well as the fact that promoting education for all is in line with the policy of combatting social exclusion and national solidarity advocated by the President of the Republic His Excellency Paul Biya. She went ahead to highlight some government’s action in favour of education for children with disabilities. She concluded her speech calling on all to invest in the education of children with disabilities and ensure that no one is left behind. The Minister led the ringing of the bells which took one minute, the signing of the manifesto as a sign of engagement to continue promoting education for children with disabilities and the ceremony ended with a family photo to immortalize the event.
