By Boris Esono Nwenfor
LEBIALEM, Cameroon – There is a faint noise crackling in the peaceful environment. The famous bell that produces a recognizable noise even from a distance is almost covered by shrubs. When it is rang, students and inhabitants of the area know it is school time at the Seat of Wisdom College, located in Nveh, Fontem, Lebialem Division of the South West Region.
The school known to have produced great men and women is currently not functioning at its original site and is begging for revival. Everywhere is quiet but for the noises of birds in the area, who have made Seat of Wisdom College home.
Visiting the school on Thursday, March 7, the gate is partially crumbled to one side with shrubs on the fence. At the end of the fenced school is a different scenario with the fence completely overshadowed by saplings. Moving inside the magnificent structure, the Seat of Wisdom is almost not recognizable.
From closed classrooms to chairs stacked on each other, and traps set to catch “rat moles”, the educational establishment is a shadow of its former self. The boy’s dormitory, and football field at a distance have all been taken over by shrubs.
Moving inside the school, we came across a publication “When news breaks out, we break it” posted on one of the announcement boards in the school, seemingly from the journalism club. Another stated “national news”, and “international briefs” and the last read “pope’s message.”
“Welcome back! No student is allowed to go beyond this notice without a pass from the Vice Principal” is another message clearly seen on an announcement board lying on the floor. I am told that this message is directed to new students coming into the institution. The area like most of the school itself is closed with signs of education dating back to 2017.
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College in Fontem was established back in 1966 by the Focolare Movement, an Italian religious group within the Roman Catholic Church. Tens of thousands of children from within and without this rural community have benefited from this educational establishment created by these missionaries.
Before the outbreak of the ongoing Anglophone crisis, from 1966 to 2016, Seat of Wisdom College was a leading Secondary and High School across Cameroon offering co-education to boys and girls. Statistics from the Cameroon General Certificate of Education (GCE) Board show that Seat of Wisdom College Fontem was among the top five (5) Secondary/High Schools in Cameroon. Before the crisis, it frequently registered a hundred per cent pass rates at the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level Examinations.
“Things are crumbling in terms of education. Seat of Wisdom is one of the first schools that went operational in this place. We are hoping that one day God himself is going to do a miracle and we are going to have the Seat of Wisdom that we know of,” said Ghilung Paul, Coordinator of Mutual Love Secondary School.
“To our sponsors, particularly LECUDO, Focolare Movement, and Ex-students of Seat of Wisdom College who have always been by our side, I just want to say that they should keep on with the work. I am so overwhelmed with the work they have been doing. Students here school literarily for free, almost covering the expenses.”
