Achievements and Challenges of the Kom Multilingual Education Longitudinal Experience and the Impact on Cameroon’s Educational System

Abstract

Abstract: This paper sets out to examine the experiences and the impact of the longitudinal Multilingual Education (MLE) project in Kom. The project was executed by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). It had strengths and hurdles despite early initiatives invested in Mother Tongue (MT) education by the National Association of Cameroonian Languages Committees (NACALCO). Attitudes manifested afield by stakeholders (educationists and parents) were questionable to the fact that multilingual education could be used as a tool to improve educational standards, maintain peace and harmony of a nation. It is therefore on this basis that the study ethnographically dwells on examining the challenges and the achievements of the Kom longitudinal Multilingual Education (MLE) project in Cameroon. It qualitatively verifies the role it played since its launching. The discussions are from personal experiences not limiting the exploitation of useful documents established through research from the MLE project over the years. It is anticipated that MLE views based on the project could be a way to strengthen MLE partners who could be found in similar circumstances in their projects elsewhere in Cameroon.