Alternative Societal Models of Peace Education in Cameroon

This chapter explores the peace education dimension in Cameroon. Peace education here is inextricably linked, with an institutional logic defining its specific configurations. The interaction between education and peacebuilding institutions gives rise to four contrasting ‘societal models’ of competence-building systems. The Ecumenical Youth Peace Initiative Commission (EYPIC) was established to involve youth in solving religious, ethnic and tribal conflicts through peacebuilding.

On the education and training dimension, national systems can vary according to the relative importance they attach to different types of knowledge, and the distribution of competence among the entire workforce. A narrow and elitist system is characterized by the dominance of formal academic knowledge and a highly uneven two-tier distribution of competence: a well-developed higher education system for the elite while the majority of the workforce is poorly trained. A broad-based education and training system recognizes the value of both academic education and vocational training. The EYPIC provides training characterized by a widespread and rigorous general and vocational education for a wide spectrum of the workforce. Such a system is more conducive to a decentralized mode of work organization. A more even distribution of competence among the workforce provides a better basis for interactive learning and the cultivation of tacit knowledge as a source of organizational capability.