| dc.description.abstract | This study investigates on how the Cameroon basic education ministry pursues its school mapping policy in order to make basic education accessible to children of school going age. School mapping (carte scholaire) in this study refers to the plan adopted by the state for the distribution of schools within the country with the aim of ensuring equity in terms of access to both public and private educational establishments. To look at how this policy is implemented, urban and rural areas have been studied as separate entities in order to establish a comparative analysis with regards to the availability of school establishments and also variation in quality. This is because these two areas (urban and rural) have different characteristics that may necessitate different levels of involvement by the government and private providers. Again, since education in Cameroon is decentralised with the central services of the Ministry of Basic Education (MINEDUB) playing the role of coordination and supervision of education, the study equally looks at the responsibilities of these central services especially the department charged with making available statistics on national coverage of the ministry. This is because it is through reports presented by this department that leads to government intervention in most cases. Apart from this, there has also been the devolution of power to the Regions (administrative units). In this light, the North West Region has been used as the main research site where through the coordination of the Regional Delegation of Basic Education (representing the central Ministry of Basic Education in the Region) other stakeholders have also been explored with regards to the school mapping policy. Therefore, in carrying out this research, issues that have been examined include looking at whether the Cameroon basic education ministry has any formulated school mapping guidelines which orientate the government and other private providers in the creation and opening of primary school establishments. How have these guidelines or regulations been implemented at the ministerial and at the Regional level in order to make basic education accessible to areas with fewer schools? Findings indicate that the involvement of different actors in determining the site for the opening of new government and private schools and the lack of collaboration with the Regional Delegation of Basic Education have been contributing to the poor implementation of ministerial guidelines. This has made some areas to be under-served while others become over crowded with schools. | en_US |