In a 19th August decision, the Minister of Higher Education, Chancellor of Academic Orders, in a communiqué, wrote and informed the Public in general and the Higher Education Community in particular that the Pan African Institute for Development (PAID) is not affiliated with the Higher Education System of Cameroun. The Minister of Higher Education Consequently warned candidates registering in PAID for Bachelors, Master, and Ph.D. programs that doing so is at their own risks because their certificates would not be recognized by the Higher Education of Cameroon.

Consequently, The Secretary General of PAID and officials of the Ministry met on August 26th for a crucial meeting, BaretaNews has learned. The public was already in panic as most students did not know what to expect.

BaretaNews have been furnished with a new communique from the Higher Education Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo signed on August 26th after the meeting. The Communique read in parts:

” A formal request for discussions on the subject of the accreditation of the Pan African Institute For Development as a Higher Education Training Institution was made on August 25th, 2016 by authorities of the Pan African Institute For Development. The Minister Granted the request and a meeting was held, presided over by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education with Directors of the Ministry in attendance, in the conference room of the Ministry with a delegation of four (4) personalities from the Pan African Institute For Development led by the Secretary General of the Institute. The discussions during this meeting were frank and instructive. ” the communique read

The statement further reveals that at the end of the meeting, the Secretary-General of the Pan African Institute For Development deposited a file for accreditation of PAID as a Higher Education Training Institution in the Cameroons. The Minister in his communiqué reveals that another meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 1st after which an inspection team will visit the campuses of the Pan African Institute For Development in Cameroon.

“Eventual authorization for the Pan African Institute For Development to operate as a de jure Higher Education Institution and accreditation of its teaching programs shall be based on the inspection report submitted to the Minister. Every other aspect of the aforementioned press release remains unchanged”- the Minister concluded.

BaretaNews, therefore, posits that there was no need for the continuous bashing of the Minister’s earlier decision. It is evident there is a difference between legalization and accreditation. An Institution can be legal to operate but to offer certain programs in terms of Bachelors, Masters or Ph.D., it will demand it to be officially accreditated by the powers that be before opening it up to potential students. The communiqué from the Minister of Higher Education following the meeting he had with officials of PAID-WA clears any further doubts and sets the records straight.

God is still saying something.