Revisiting the Political Will in Educational Development: The Case of Cameroon

This paper sets out to inquire whether the political will enhances or obstructs educational development in Cameroon. The problem identified here is that policy making is one reality and follow-up and implementation is another. The central arguments in this paper have been articulated within the context of political science theories like the Marxist conflict theory, John Rawls theory of justice, John Dewey’s theory of democratic education, Rousseau’s social contract theory and James Banks’ multicultural education theory. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of research have been used in this study. Questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions and participant observation constituted the research instruments. A thematic analysis supported by descriptive statistics was used to present and discuss the facts studied. This research questions the fairness in policy-making and wonders whether the political will follows the right procedures to enact relevant policies for educational growth. Findings prove that there is more to be desired as far as policy making and implementation of the policies in Cameroon is concerned. This paper concludes that in order to ensure fairness and quality in the provision of educational values, the political will has to be strong as far as justice, fairness and the provision of educational opportunities is concerned in Cameroon.