Discussions

“The socio-economic implications of the launching an educational website, to the people of Cameroon, the CEMAC region and Africans in general”.

An extract from a paper on “Why Poor People remain Poor”, Presented by Ajaga Nji (Prof.), Senior Lecturer at the University of Dschang – Cameroon, on April 26th, 2008, at the occasion of the Launching of an educational website, code named; (www.mawum.net) and the activities of Groupe Mawum Holdings; Sa., P.O. Box 264 Bamenda, Republic of Cameroon, E-mail: mawumholdings@yahoo.com.

"The establishment of the Mawum Holdings Educational Network creates fertile ground for Cameroon and the CEMAC region to take a page from the Chinese development notebook in the area for example of technology transfer (http://www.ft.com/cm/s/3c788d028-648e-11db21-0000770e2340.html), the development of local skills, sharing of intellectual property rights, joint ventures with local firms on technology adaptation projects, all in return for the abundance of natural resource exports on the continent (Watkins, et al., 2007) ".

“An educational website links scientists, academics and students to their peers by building professional connections and communication networks. The educational network in the North-West Province will need network infrastructure at the campus, provincial, national, regional and Pan-African levels to be effective and efficient.

The advantages of the educational network being launched by Groupe Mawum Holdings; Sa. today in Tadkon Credit Union Hall are numerous, such as the capacity to:

1. Create awareness of existing educational institutions and their curricular in the NW Province;
2. Inform potential stakeholders (students, teachers, parents, government agencies, dealers in educational technologies and potential employers);
3. Facilitate communication between students, teachers and educational administrators;
4. Enhance the use of fibre networks by students and their teachers for research, education, employment and service to the community;
5. Promote information exchange and sharing among academics, researchers, students and educational leaders as well as linking dispersed campuses;
6. Provide an inventory for educational policy on efficient mechanisms to increase access, quality, relevance and management of education;
7. Showcase educational institutions and create a harmonious environment for competition, diversity of educational provision and greater choice for students, parents and sponsors;
8. Build data bases and contribute to the provision of scientific, technological and scholarly information on-line (including courses), to facilitate teaching, learning, research and moral education;
9. Increase access to local, national, regional and international e-content through digital depositories or libraries;
10. Create the environment for diversification of education provision and lifelong learning. Provide opportunities for knowledge generation, development, dissemination and utilization;
11. Facilitate access of the North-West Province into the global economy Internet in Africa was born in the universities in the late 1980s and early 1990s by champions of innovative scientists in countries such as Zambia, Mozambique, Senegal and Uganda through experimentation with e-mail systems (AAU, 2005).
12. Therefore, it will be safe to postulate that the quality and sustainability of the Mawum Educational Website will depend on the participation and involvement of the higher education sector in this initiative because the building of scientific capacity lies in the universities.

Higher education is also the level par excellence, for the generation, diffusion and utilization of scientific and technological knowledge No society has developed without investing heavily in its people. Therefore, educational institutions are the engines of knowledge, growth and development in all societies. The CEMAC region cannot "leap frog" into the Technological Age without substantial and steady investment in its human resource.

Although the 12 main advantages of educational networks mentioned above primarily benefit educational institutions themselves, it is expected that a website such as the one being launched here today will contribute directly or indirectly to finding solutions to national problems or needs. In the case of Cameroon and the CEMAC region an educational network should enable users to network, share and collectively find solutions to:

• The chronic problem of poverty and social exclusion; Our perennial and growing energy crisis;
• The complex problem of skills development and skills upgrading; Brain drain how to transform it into brain circulation;
• The complex problems of poor people’s diseases such as malaria, measles and tuberculosis;
• Pervasive traditional agricultural systems The inertia and unresponsiveness that characterize our public institutions Our stubborn system of injustices, lack of the rule of law, Corruption, bribery and embezzlement of public funds;

STI and the Tiger Economies The now widely told story of the development experience of the "Tiger Economies" of East Asia is a shining example of the strong and sustained impact of relevant education on the construction of a knowledge society. The tantalizing experience of Korea, Singapore and now China tells us how

(1) focusing on building the skills of the labour force through education at all levels;

(2) creating incentives and public institutions for discovery and adaptation of foreign technology for national needs;

(3) effective use of foreign investment to create technological spillovers: and,

(4) building on focused projects that support the technology needs of industry, can fight poverty in a positive, effective, efficient and sustainable way.

The miracle growth of the Republic of Korea is further attributed to the fact that Korea, a small country (98,000 km2) which is half the size of Cameroon (172,000 km2), with a population of 46 million inhabitants which is three times the population of Cameroon (15 million), has always relied on the role of education in developing their own individual economies and that of the nation. This is based on the strong belief that "education is the only means to upgrade one’s social status" (Sonu, 2007:10).

Furthermore, a number of factors have worked to crystalize Korea’s miraculous development: Korea’s capacity for technology imitation; Building STI capacity around specific problems Design of educational systems that are responsive to the research and human capital needs of the private sector; The presence of an enabling policy environment characterized by political will, commitment and dedicated policy makers.

The establishment of the Mawum Holdings Educational Network creates fertile ground for Cameroon and the CEMAC region to take a page from the Chinese development notebook in the area for example of technology transfer (http://www.ft.com/cm/s/3c788d028-648e-11db21-0000770e2340.html), the development of local skills, sharing of intellectual property rights, joint ventures with local firms on technology adaptation projects, all in return for the abundance of natural resource exports on the continent (Watkins, et al., 2007) .

In regions with small countries and weak economies such as the CEMAC region, to base the development of all STI on the strengths of individual countries will be like swimming upstream. Rather, it will be more beneficial for the region and easier to strive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development by developing cooperation ties between member countries through the creation of centres of excellence and platforms for shared learning and education, research, technological development such as a website. Mawum Educational Website and Open & Distance Learning Finally, "ICTS can help expand primary, secondary and tertiary education by facilitating distance learning, offering remote access to educational resources and enabling other solutions", (Juma, 2007). The effectiveness of a distance education programme depends on the relevance and quality of its contents to the learner.

Therefore the Mawum Educational website holds the potential to encourage learners and teachers to communicate more, learn more, be more creative and imaginative, significantly improve their skills and communities and allow students, teachers, employers and civil society to maintain sustained partnerships, linkages, dialogue and cooperation. (Tait, 1997).

Conclusion:

The fight against poverty and misery in the 21st century cannot be won without massive investments, and the political will and commitment required to build an educational system that can compete and win in a rapidly globalizing world economy. Cooperation and collaboration are needed at the individual and collective, institutional and regional levels to surmount a number of challenges to scientific, technological and engineering education in Cameroon and the CEMAC Sub-region. An educational website which serves as a marketplace is a timely answer”.