A Study On "History Curriculum Reform" In Secondary School In Cameroon

The main objective of this study was to investigate driving factors for secondary school history curriculum reform in Cameroon.It also intended to understand procedures it have been through from design to implementation.Many factors can be at the root of curriculum reform in a country's education system.These factors are varied,including endogenous and exogenous.Curricula and curriculum reforms are most often triggered by circumstances such as:technical,cultural,ideological,political and economic aspects of the role of education in society.Looking at the Chinese basic education history curriculum reform experiences of 2002 was taken as lesson for Cameroon.China has embarked on various curriculum reforms,including History subject curriculum reform.The goal was to set up quality education throughout the country.To meet this goal,the Chinese authorities have set up a comprehensive modern curriculum system.The content of the curriculum has been a part of the success of quality education and has contributed a great deal with political,economic and cultural development in the country.Qualitative case study method employed through official documents analysis,field observation and face to face interview schedule to collected detail data from history curriculum teachers,experts of the area from Cameroon ministry of education.The basic assumption is that the reform of the intended curriculum has a possible impact in terms of positive changes in the educational system in which it will be implemented.In other words,curriculum reform is an effective way to address educational gaps and abuses in terms of content,teaching method and evaluation methods to provide quality education.It is found that Cameroon has a strong ambition on strengthening secondary education,which is usually carried out by the introduction of curricular reforms.The history subject curriculum reform has as its intention the introduction of changes in relation to the content and method of teaching the subject with the ultimate goal of establishing quality education.However,according to available data in Cameroon,there is a prevalent weakness in the curriculum reform implementation process and by extension of the education system which has culminated in persistent low access to education,and poor knowledge acquisition by students.This study attempts to explore the history curriculum implementation process in Cameroon with China as a reference.The study showed that in terms of driving factors of history curriculum the intended goal was to adapt the content to the new vision of education in Cameroon.The history subject teaching method is intended to have the student at the center of learning process by introduction of competency-based approach.On the strategy for implementing the new history curriculum reform,the study shows that although the preparatory phases were elaborated by the Ministries of Education of Cameroon through the creation of committee of experts saddled with the task of designing the history curriculum,the implementation procedure was constrained by many challenges resulting in a disconnect between the intended curriculum and the existing realities.The evaluation and monitoring aspect also faced challenges due to the weakness of the existing evaluation mechanism put in place by the authorities in Cameroon.The study recommends adoption of the Chinese history curriculum implementation process as a guiding model for the regulatory bodies charged with the implementation of curriculum reforms in Cameroon due to the seamless collaboration between the Chinese Ministry of Education(MOE)and bodies such as National Center for School Curriculum and Text Book Development(NCCT)and Research Centers for Basic Education Curriculum(RCBEC)and Normal universities;a collaboration that allows for taking national,regional and local realities into account in the implementation of the new curriculum in China.The Chinese experience as shown by the study can be a reference to Cameroon in terms of collaboration for implementation between the central and the regional governments.In Cameroon,relationship between regular schools and the Ministry of Education takes place only through the General Inspectorate of Education,because of centralization;regional and divisional delegated authorities only apply resolutions from central administration without taking cognizance of the existing realities of the local environment in which the curriculum reform is implemented.