The Conference Hall of the Littoral Delegation of Arts and Culture was filled to capacity by administrators, Pedagogic Inspectors of Basic Education, Head Teachers and Head Mistresses of primary schools during the review of a new book series; SOPECAM Emergence English for Cameroon Primary Schools.

“Emergence” is made up of “Anglais” for French-speaking primary school pupils and “English Language” for English-speaking pupils.

Published by the Cameroon News and Publishing Corporation, SOPECAM, level one of the series (classes one and two, and Sil and CP) comprises a textbook, a workbook and teacher’s guide in the textbook list for 2016/2017 school year. The pedagogic value of Emergence has been confirmed by stakeholders in basic education, including pedagogic inspectors.

During the book review in Douala on July 22, 2016, one of the numerous authors, who is also the Regional Pedagogic Inspector in charge of Bilingualism for Littoral, Ningo Mbah Doris, gave an in-depth view of the books. She started with “Emergence,” which is a statement in vogue, saying everyone was bound to chip in a block to achieve the overall goal, which is what the “Emergence” team has done.

The methodology and content are exceptional. The book is divided into six sequences of three modules (units), with each sequence starting with specific learning objectives and ending with structural focus and child-friendly auto-evaluation.

The themes, which are real life experiences of learners and child-friendly illustrations, facilitate understanding. The books, according to the authors, go beyond the four communication skills and get pupils to apply themselves in an integrated manner within the competence-based approach.

They are written by nine renowned authors, most of who are pedagogic inspectors in basic and secondary education, with other books to their credit, including the book coordinator, Forbin Dorothy.

The SOPECAM Regional Chief for Littoral, Armand Essogo and the Chief of Division of SOPECAM’s Commercial and Marketing Direction, Pierre Claver Ambassa Bikoun, gave assurances of the availability of the books since SOPECAM has a gigantic press, the fourth in Africa that prints about 7,500 textbook copies a day.

“Emergence” is the only official language book in the national booklist that is 100 per cent Cameroonian - from authors to publisher and content. Thus, “consommez camerounais!”