Primary and secondary schools across Cameroon officially resumed classes on Monday, September 7, 2026, but the return to school in Bamenda, capital of the North West Region, has been overshadowed by a lockdown.
The 2026/2027 school year officially began at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, September 7, according to the joint school calendar issued by the Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education.
While pupils and students in many parts of the country returned to classrooms, the situation in Bamenda was markedly different, with movement reportedly restricted by a lockdown, leaving many streets quiet and schools unable to operate normally.
The contrast is particularly striking because the government had placed strong emphasis on security ahead of the new academic year. A special security assessment meeting was held on August 26, bringing together senior defence, security and territorial administration officials to prepare for the reopening of schools and universities. The government said defence and security forces had been mobilised to ensure a safe academic year.
Yet, in Bamenda, insecurity and disruptions continue to affect the ability of children to enjoy uninterrupted education.
The situation also highlights the continuing education crisis in Cameroon's North West and South West regions, where the armed conflict has for years disrupted schooling. Human Rights Watch has documented attacks, threats and intimidation targeting students, teachers and schools in the two English-speaking regions.
The impact is not uniform across the North West.
In Donga-Mantung Division, for instance, schools reopened on Monday, with thousands of pupils and students reportedly returning to classrooms. According to figures cited by Cameroon Tribune, 7,804 out of an expected 16,523 secondary and technical students attended classes on opening day, representing a turnout of 47.23 percent.
Bamenda's experience, however, shows how fragile the return to normal schooling remains in parts of the region.
For parents and students, another disrupted school day means more than an empty classroom. It represents lost learning time, uncertainty and the continued struggle to provide children with an education in an environment where movement and normal economic and social activities can be interrupted at short notice.
The renewed disruption also raises questions about how long children in Bamenda can continue to bear the consequences of the conflict.
For a generation of pupils who have already experienced repeated interruptions to their education, every lost school day matters.
As schools elsewhere in Cameroon begin another academic year, Bamenda once again finds itself confronting a painful reality: the school calendar may say September 7, but insecurity can still determine when children actually get to sit in the classroom.
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