People of the North West Region came out in their numbers to witness the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of some schools and classrooms in Government Primary School, Ngomgham. The event was presided by the Minister of Basic Education, Youssouf Adidja Alim and the Japanese Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E. Tsutomu Arai.

The 5th phase of the Japanese Grant Groject will cost some FCFA 5.5 billion and will comprise of the construction of some 18 schools in the North West Region, particularly in Santa, Bafut, Bamenda, Bali, Tubah in Mezam Divison, Fundong in Boyo Division and Ndop in Ngoketunjia. The grant will also include the offer of offices, toilets, tables and chairs. Works have already started in the school since October 2012 will last till 2014.

While laying the foundation stone in Government School Ngomgham, the Japanese Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E Tsutomu Arai said their main objective is to create an appropriate environment for the improvement of young kids' performance by reducing the number of children per classroom. He said education is the foundation of any meaningful socio-economic development thus his country is out to ensure that Cameroon achieves the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Tsutomu Arai said Phases One to Four of Japanese Grant Project were undertaken in the other nine regions and the 5th phase is now in the North West Region. Thus, all parts of the country have benefited from Japanese largess. He was quick to add that at the end of the project the Japanese government would have spent FCFA 64.4 billion, construct 1,521 classrooms in 141 schools in Cameroon.

On her part, the Minister of Basic Education, Adidja Alim thanked the Japanese government for the gifts. She said the schools, classrooms, benches, toilets will go a long way to create a more conducive teaching and learning environment. Worthy of note is that the North West Region will benefit from a larger number of classrooms as compared to other regions.