Transitions in Cameroon's Pilot Bilingualism Policy at the Federal Bilingual Grammar School Man-O-War Bay Victoria and Buea 1963-2019

This paper critically examines the evolution of Cameroon’s bilingual education policy from 1963 to 2019, a period marked by significant transitions in the efforts of implementation. The study primarily focuses on the pilot experiences at the Federal Bilingual Grammar School (FBGS) Man-O’-War Bay, Victoria where the idea took roots and extends to the Bilingual Grammar School (BGS) Molyko, when the location was shifted for logistics and political reasons to Buea. The primary objective was to identify and appreciate the extent to which the various training models aligned with the agenda of building school citizens who were linguistically proficient in French and English and who could use such connections to socially integrate into a new Cameroonian identity different from the polarised colonial French and British cultures. Using a qualitative historical design informed by primary and secondary sources, the research reveals that from 1963 to 2019, the FBGS and BGS experimented three crucial interlapping training models; immersion, coexistence and special bilingual education program (SBEP). Each of these experiences had objectives and specificities patterned to respond to the broader national vision of promoting official bilingualism in public schools and colleges. The study unveiled that the nascent immersion model that envisaged a sustainable holistic bilingualism, aborted because of the absence of a committed follow up policy with accompanying resources to ensure full compliance. The subsequent models were therefore alternatives but survival strategies to keep alive the overarching mission of the state to forster official bilingualism. The shifts ultimately compromised the original goals of engendering genuine bilingualism and cultural coexistence. The introduction of the Special Bilingual Education Program (SBEP) in 2009 rekindled hope of re-imagining official bilingualism in public secondary schools. However, it emerged from the findings that the SBEP faces substan