Buea: New Academic Year Begins Nov. 15

Societe
Nkeze MBONWOH | 09-10-2017 15:29

The campus was busy finalising second semester exams last week.

November 15, 2017, is the stipulated date for the University of Buea (UB) to effectively resume studies for the academic year 2017-2018. Also, September 14 was the last day for second semester examination.
This information from the Registrar of the Institution, Professor Roland Ndip, undertones readjustments in the academic calendar of the University of Buea owing to the perturbations encountered since November 2016 when the Anglophone crisis kicked off. 
The campus rayed a beehive atmosphere last week with staff and students in exam mood. Busy, busy was the picture as the various campus streets were crowded with these entering and those exiting. As confirmed by the Registrar, over 90 percent of the 15.000 student population were back on campus following up their academic work.

Registration
Self-employment opportunities have thus cropped up at the University entrance in Molyko-Buea with smart youngsters seeking to help any newcomer to fill out application forms on-line. “I can help for CFA 500”, Emmanuel accosted this reporter last Saturday at the UB entrance with a laptop computer in hand.
Both flanks of UB entrance are thronged daily by several scores of agile looking boys and girls parading both sides of the street with sample phone sets, brand internet keys, phone SIM cards, or any electronic gadget in hand proposing sale or service. Most of the intellectual hawkers propose to fill out on-line application forms for admission into UB in exchange of remuneration.
On the contrary, during a recent convocation in the UB, their former vice Chancellor urged young people seeking admission to learn how to manipulate the computer for basic use. In this way, she meant, one can know how to fill out their own application forms on-line and stop spending their money paying others for what they could easily do.

Professional openings
Major innovations intended at the UB this year are still to spring up though in the pipeline steadily advancing towards tunnel end. For example, the University of Buea had advertised a new programme for professional translators. While waiting for the programme to be launched, hundreds of holders of the GCE Advanced Level are jamming the corridors of UB to complete on-line forms for admission into the various Faculties and Schools of the University.
Paralleled to age-old classical humanities at UB, professional programmes accessed through public competitive entrance, are still to be written. Such programmes, some of which have been launched, are found in the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (FAVM). Another key area of professionalization at the UB is the College of Technology (COT) with departments of Computer Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering as well as Mechanical Engineering. This College of UB is hoping to extend its competence to train Engineers in Civil, Mining, Textile and Clothing Design, Chemical as well as Health Informatics disciplines.
The UB also runs a world standard Translation and Interpretation School, ASTI, which trains up to PhD level. To crown the institution in the area of formation, the UB has been training Medical Doctors and has graduated some three batches of them who are proving their worth in Cameroonian Hospitals and Health Centres.

Réactions

Prof. Ernest N. Molua: “We Put Efforts On Job Creation”

Dean of Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.

“With respect to professionalization, we put efforts in our teaching, learning and job creation activities. In the case of teaching, most of our courses are embedded in tutorials and practical. The students in all the courses have at least ten hours of practical. Some courses are purely practical, no classroom. When the students get to the second year, third and fourth year, they all engage in field works in two forms. First, there is the village study where our students stay in villages for four weeks. They experience life interactions in another village. The second practical is in the third year whereby students spend three months in campus farms and actually grow crops. Our 200 level students grow tomatoes, 300 levels grow corn while 400 grow okra. Each student of our Faculty must engage in these practical activities. In addition, the students are drilled on how to maintain all farming machinery. We train them not only to drive tractors but to operate them.”

Dr. Sone Ekonde Micheal: “We Train Students To Be Self-employed”

Director of College of Technology, University of Buea.

“Our resources in the College of Technology are geared towards forming our students to be job creators. We work very closely with the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and the farmers. We want to come up with automated ways in which we can enhance crop production. One of the flagship projects that we have here is the cocoa dryer. If the University of Buea is called today the Silicon Mountain it is thanks to the students of the College of Technology. We have one big service provider based in Bamenda. He is our former student and many others in renown institutions. The one in Bamenda has a very good consulting firm in ICTs which provides service even out of the country. We train our students to be self-employed. They come with an idea and we make them to mature to small and medium-sized enterprises.”

Awah Lilian: “I Intend To Practice Large Scale Farming”

Crop Production student, Level 300, FAVM.

“I am doing crop production. With this farming I am able to sponsor myself in school and provide all my needs. As a student, I market vegetables like cucumber and lettuce. I sell sometimes about FCFA 50 000. When I graduate I shall look for land to practice large scale farming. After my training I shall employ so many people to assist me in the project.”

Ewane Ekwelle: “We Come Up With Our Own Projects”

Telecommunication Engineering student, Level 300, COT.

“We base our studies on how we can begin with old start-ups. Then we come up with our own projects which can help the country in radio systems, radio communication and wireless network. Upon graduation I intend to come up with a call system that will reduce the financial burden on air-time users. With the training in the College of Technology of the University of Buea we are trained to be self-employed. Gaining employment in an enterprise is a secondary option.”