On the occasion of the signing of the revised establishment establishment agreement and the second renewal of the memorandum of understanding between AIMS-Cameroon and the Government of Cameroon, Prof. Dr. Sam Yala, the AIMS Global network President, Prof. Dr. Mama Foupouagnigni, the AIMS-Cameroon President, and members of the AIMS Cameroon team were received in successive audiences by the Minister of Secondary Education; the Minister of Finance, the Minister of External Relations; and the Minister of Higher Education in Cameroon.

Audience at the Ministry of Finance

On October 19, 2023, the AIMS-Cameroon team met with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, represented by the Director, Head of Follow-up Department, Mr. Abdoulaye Hayatou. Prof. Yala, the President of the AIMS Global Network, expressed his gratitude for the Ministry’s support and discussed the recent change in the leadership structure of the AIMS Global network. He also expressed his appreciation for the Ministry’s efforts to reduce the delay in government funding. Mr. Hayatou expressed his interest in the support that AIMS provides to the government in the areas of STEM education and educational advocacy. He said that AIMS’s activities in Cameroon are commendable and well-appreciated by the government.

Signing of the Revised Establishment Agreement at the Ministry of External Relations

On October 20, 2023, the AIMS-Cameroon team met with the Minister of External Relations, His Excellency Lejeune Mbella Mbella, to sign the revised establishment agreement between the Cameroon Government and AIMS-Cameroon. Prof. Yala presented the AIMS network and AIMS-Cameroon, and highlighted the three pillars of AIMS’s activities: postgraduate education, research, and policy engagement and dialogue. He then presented AIMS-Cameroon’s achievements and future plans in the following areas:

• Training: Nearly 450 students from 27 African countries have been trained in the Master of Science in Mathematics and Cooperative Master Programs, of whom 37% are women and 46% are Cameroonian.
• Research: An international research chair has been established, which has produced nearly 200 high-quality publications and preprints, supervised 4 PhD students, and organized 23 scientific research seminars and workshops.
• Capacity building: Four teaching simulation laboratories have been set up in teacher training colleges, 89 master trainers have been trained, and over 2000 student teachers have been supported.
• Advocacy and influencing government policies on education: Various events and prizes have been organized to encourage students to pursue mathematics, and AIMS has participated in the Next Einstein Forum.
• Industry initiative: Strong partnerships have been established with industries, and students have worked on real-world problems.
• Support for government policy: AIMS has contributed to capacity building for mathematics teachers, improved the success rate in mathematics in schools, and established a cooperative master’s program that helps companies solve problems.
• New projects: A permanent campus is under construction, and the training offer will be expanded with new capacity-building projects, including:

• Capacity Building Project for Secondary School Teachers in Mathematics (Teachers Training Program, TTP)
• Establishment of the Master in Mathematical Sciences for Teachers
• Social Project MED: Mathematics, Excellence, and Diversity
• Project to Build Bilingual High Schools of Excellence in Science

The Minister of External Relations expressed his satisfaction with AIMS-Cameroon’s achievements, particularly its work on professionalizing STEM education and He presented the revised establishment agreement as a renewal of the government preferential judicial framework for AIMS-Cameroon.

Signing of the Third Memorandum of Understanding at the Ministry of Higher Education

On October 21, 2023, the AIMS-Cameroon team met with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Higher Education. The Secretary General congratulated AIMS-Cameroon on its achievements and said that it is a central player in higher education in Cameroon. He also praised AIMS-Cameroon’s teaching model, which is focused on quality assurance, professionalization of teaching, and employability of graduates.

During the audience, it was noted that AIMS-Cameroon is already aligned with the new Cameroonian law on university-industry and student-entrepreneurship. This is demonstrated by its incubation centers and entrepreneurship programs, such as the AIMS Health Collaborative and Jolof, Santé, and the result-oriented industry problem-solving projects of the AIMS Coop education program.

On the same day, the third memorandum of understanding between AIMS-Cameroon and the Government of Cameroon was signed at the Ministry of Higher Education. The Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Chancellor of Academic Orders, Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo, welcomed the AIMS team and expressed his gratitude to President Paul Biya for the new university governance policy under which the memorandum of understanding is being renewed for the third time. He said that AIMS is in line with the third-generation university that the Cameroonian government envisions, where scholarly knowledge and knowledge delivery are seamlessly blended with employability, quality assurance, professionalization, entrepreneurship, and digitalization. He congratulated AIMS-Cameroon for its colossal work.

The signing ceremony was followed by a photo session, interviews with the media, and a cocktail reception.

Conclusion

The signing ceremony of the revised establishment agreement and the third memorandum of understanding between AIMS-Cameroon and the Government of Cameroon was a significant event that demonstrates the strong partnership between AIMS-Cameroon and the Cameroonian government. The two agreements reaffirm AIMS-Cameroon’s commitment to providing high-quality postgraduate education in STEM, conducting cutting-edge research, and engaging with policy makers to promote STEM education and development in Cameroon