Saint Joseph Calasanz Bilingual College, Messamendongo-Yaoundé (Cabac)
The Piarist ministry in the Province of Central Africa at the beginning of this academic year 2021/22 has been blessed with two significant Schools in the localities of Bamenda and Yaoundé. Calasanz College Menteh, Bamenda, and Calasanz Bilingual Academic Complex Messamendongo, Yaoundé, opened their doors timidly during the last academic year 2020/21 with a minimal number of students. But this year, the number of students has increased drastically in the two schools.
St Joseph Calasanz Bilingual Academic Complex, Messamendongo, Yaoundé is a citadel of learning where the minds and souls of young boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 16 are formed. The college accommodates a total of 325 students this academic year (2021-2022) as opposed to 124 last year (2020 – 2021). Both boarding and day, these students come from diverse cultural backgrounds and nationalities (Cameroon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and the Central African Republic). The college is equally found in a very calm environment, in the neighborhood of Messamendongo, away from the hustle and bustle of the capital city of Yaoundé.
Apart from formal education, students are also empowered in non-formal educational and vocational skills through club activities such as music, environmental, shoe mending and barbing club, drama, and cultural club, journalism, agriculture, and animal husbandry club. In addition, we also emphasize the spiritual life of the students to assure that we are forming balanced citizens who will influence society with their way of life.
Saint Joseph Calasanz Catholic College, Menteh-Bamenda
On the other hand, Saint Joseph Calasanz Catholic College Menteh has its peculiarity, created at a challenging moment of the Anglophone crisis where children have not been able to go to school for the past five years, the school has come as a solution to most parents, giving hope to the hopeless. Last year, we had barely 160 students, but the number has doubled to about 350 students this year. Here we have faced the challenge of educating the students in piety and learning, but we also have to accompany them psychologically. Most of them are carrying trauma as a result of the ongoing crisis in the locality.
Like in CABAC Yaoundé, we made an option to create dormitory facilities to host some of the students coming from distant areas under challenging conditions. And a good number opted to be internal. In addition, some parents prefer the dormitory-style, and we gave them the possibility. So far, half of the students are internal.
The school of Menteh is a grammar and commercial school and will have a vocational orientation. Apart from intellectual formation, we intend to create structures to help children build their capacities in agriculture and animal production, tailoring, music, etc.
Then, the school was blessed with a special gift from the friends of Fr. Angel Valenzuela (Alumni of the primary schools of Futru and Menteh), who will set up a modern Library for the students in memory of Fr. Angel.
Fr. Evaristus Akem Ndi Sch. P.
