Implementation of Inclusive Education in the Basic Education Sub-Sector in Cameroon: the Experience of the Ministry of Basic Education

Cameroon's commitment to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the evidence that the country is determined to ensure quality, equitable and inclusive education for all citizens, including those with special educational needs, in a safe, healthy and protective environment, in order to eradicate all types of inequality in the Basic Education sub-sector. The materialization of Inclusive Education at the Ministry of Basic Education (MINEDUB) is reflected in the multi-sectoral validation of the National Policy of Inclusive Education (NPIE) that took place in October 2024. This policy is the fruit of a collaboration between various sectors, including those not in charge of the education and training sector. With the aim of implementing areas of intervention of the NPIE's operational, MINEDUB's technical structures, in collaboration with its technical and financial partners, carried out some activities, among which workshops, colloquium, popularization missions and missions to make public and use some tools that aim to provide inclusive education at MINEDUB. The outputs of these various activities undoubtedly constitute, at both strategic and operational levels, factors that contribute to the considerable progress made in inclusive education in Cameroon in general, and at MINEDUB in particular. In this article, the authors present the situation of Inclusive Education in Cameroon, with the experience of the Ministry of Basic Education. The ethnographic research design was used in this paper and this has helped to share MINEDUB's success story, while outlining how the effective implementation of the NPIE during the 2024-2028 period, relies on a perfect mastery of tools elaborated for the implementation the Policy.