Three cases of suicide have been reported in the towns of Yaounde, Douala and Bamenda since the publication of results of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education, GCE for both the Advanced and the Ordinary level over the weekend.
It is barely three days since results of the 2021 session of the GCE ordinary and advanced levels were released and cases of suicide by candidates who failed have already been recorded in three of Cameroon’s biggest towns, ,Yaounde, Douala and Bamenda.
In Yaounde, precisely at the Biyem-Assi neighbourhood, reports have it that a young boy whose name Agence Cameroun Presse could not get committed suicide after he got news about his failure. The circumstances surrounding this suicide are still to be made known.
In Douala where the second suicide case was recorded, it is a young girl at the Nyalla neighbourhood who decided to end her life when she discovered she will have to rewrite the GCE exam.
The last suicide case so far was recorded in Bamenda, chief town of the restive North West region. The victim identified as Rollins as reports have it was the unique son of his parents, living with his uncle. After failing the GCE ordinary level, Rollins found life no more worth living.
Reports say since Saturday evening when results of the examination were made public, Rollins left home and was nowhere to be found. The following day, he was discovered hanging from a tree near a stream at the Old Slap neighbourhood, Banja Street, Nkwen in Bamenda.
The rate of suicide due to failure in official examinations is on the rise in Cameroon since last year. More and more, candidates end up with their lives after receiving news of their failure to the point that teaching children that the results in an exam are not the end of life appears as a much more important lesson to learn.
Ariane Foguem
