Authorities of the 88-year-old Government Bilingual Teachers Training College, GBTTC, Kumba under the present leadership of Jingwa Tambo Georges, as Principal used the graduation of the 88th batch of well groomed teachers to decry the wanton and illegal encroachment of the school land by what they described as “land mongers”.

The graduation and prize award ceremony took place at the college auditorium on Thursday October 16, 2014 and presided at by the Meme SDO represented by the Divisional Officer, DO, for Kumba I, Duala Charles Fomumbot.

The GRA area up station in Kumba happens to be in state land, but the rate of encroachment on the land is alarming with accusing fingers pointing on the complicity of some top government functionary in the Division.

These alleged encroachments have affected government institutions, with GBTTC highly affected. Talking to THE SUN, at the sidelines of the mammoth crowd pulling event, the Principal disclosed that it’s rather a sad situation to understand that some ‘big guns’ have encroached on the school land and that the school can no longer expand in terms of infrastructure due to this pathetic situation.

He however averred that, he has addressed several correspondences to the powers that be on the burning issue and there are hopes that, there will be a lasting solution as the only solution is the demarcation of the boundaries through the construction of a fence. He announced that the school had an enrollment of 358 students and only 246 registered for Teachers Grade I Certificate Examination, CAPIEMP, with 205 emerging successful, thus recording 83.3% pass.

He called on the young teachers, to uphold the good name of the institution, be committed to the profession and preach the goodness which the alma mater incarnates. The Principal was grateful, that the teachers, have undergone a systematic training and transformation and have fulfilled the course requirement and are very much ready for the job market. He used the event to announce that the Francophone section that was authorised by the Minister of Secondary Education, have gone operational with 107 students.

Grooming the teachers was not an easy assignment, reason why the Principal used the ceremony to thank the trainers for transforming the raw materials from secondary schools into Professional teachers.

However, some problems, the Prinicipal highlighted the fact that, there was acute shortage of teachers especially with the Francophone section, absence of computers and school bus and the perennial problem of dilapidating structures.

The graduating students on their part through their representative Eyong Victorine Atem, expressed happiness that with the innovation on the Principal, their training was based on competence based approach.

While promising to be real Ambassadors of the school and to match words with actions, she hailed government for re-launching the recruitment of 9000 teachers and pleaded that after the recruitment exercise integration exercise should be accelerated.

The SDO on his part, called on the graduands to understand that the end of course is the beginning of new horizon for greatness. He reminded them to feel challenged to pick up higher studies with more humidity and vigour.

He reminded the Teachers to be a veritable source of inspiration to their learners, take teaching as a career and not a stepping stone to other lucrative jobs for posterity will blame them if they jeopardize the destiny of children that will be entrusted on them.

While in their professional career, the SDO reminded them to keep working hard in order to achieve the cardinal objective of the school at the service of Human Development through quality Education.

The problems of the school as brought forth by both the Principal and the outgoing students, were promised to be looked into by government.