A pillar of development, undermined from within: in Cameroon, public school officials demand bribes of up to 50,000 FCFA to guarantee a child's spot — or even to place them in classes above their actual level. Cameroon's anti-corruption commission (CONAC) documents several such cases in Yaoundé schools, including cases caught red-handed.
Low-income families pay the heaviest price: forced to find the money or settle for a less reputable school, their children are sorted out of the best schools before learning even begins.
Beyond the immediate injustice, the practice damages the quality of education itself: a student placed by favour in a class beyond their level accumulates gaps that will weigh on their entire schooling.
CONAC documents these cases, but its action remains limited without broader mobilisation from education stakeholders and civil society — stronger oversight, parent awareness, school accountability. Without that, sorting by money will keep coming before sorting by merit.
