The 22 candidates finally declared successful for the competitive entrance examination into the Professional Masters cycle in Diplomacy of the prestigious International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC began classes on Tuesday, 10th March 2015.

The junior diplomats were welcomed by the Director of the Instition, Pierre Emmanuel Tabi and some senior Lecturers who instructed the students to put the controversy surrounding their admission behind them and concentrate on their studies. They were given the rules and regulations of the school, timetables and the dressing code.

The students were selected on the basis of academic merit and regional balance according to Higher Education Minister, Jacques Fames Ndongo, speaking on CRTV, while reacting to the controversy following the publications of two lists.

It is worth recalling that 15 candidates were initially selected and the list was quickly pulled down for non-respect of regional balance for a second list in which six names were replaced.

Following a popular outcry on the media, the Higher Education Minister said the first list published by the jury was based essentially on merit and did not respect the principle of regional balance while the second sought to give a chance to candidates of the North, North West, Adamawa and East regions who did not feature on the list.

He noted that faced with the controversy the President of the Republic, Paul Biya ordered the readmission of all dropped candidates raising the number of candidates in diplomacy from 15 to 22.

On the first day of school, all the students have expressed their determination to work hard towards their new career. Some of the candidates who were reintegrated have described President Paul Biya as a man of justice and inclusive development in Cameroon.