Bamenda, July 30, 2025 – Another school year in Cameroon has been scheduled for September 8, 2025. For learners with disabilities, it is more than just being on campus – it is about finding a supportive environment that ensures their success in the classroom. When these hopes are met with inconsistent responses, it often dissuades learners with disabilities from pursuing their academic aspirations.
In 2011, when Nsah Edwin became the first student with profound vision impairment admitted to Government Bilingual High School (GBHS) Bamenda, he entered an educational landscape fraught with barriers. Clad in his academic brilliance, he would later become the first student with a disability to hold the prestigious position of Social Prefect in a student community of over 5,000 learners. His journey wasn’t easy from the onset. Edwin faced a harsh reality – acquiring an education in isolation posed a significant obstacle to his learning journey. Navigating the campus with its uneven topography and trekking two kilometers from home to school and back in a town where he was just a stranger was a nightmare for Edwin.
“Learners with disabilities tend to be isolated. This affects them psychologically – their participation and their presence. Isolating a learner without disability is torture enough, let alone a learner with a disability,” explains Dr. Longla Bridget, Education Advisor to the Services for Persons with Disabilities (SPD) of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services.
Precious Noh Jik, a person with vision impairment, affirms that as a learner, when you don’t have community support, it feels like you are in a dark space. She navigated her academic journey through GBHS Bamenda, recognizing the indispensable role of community support for learners who are already disadvantaged by their limited abilities. Today, after obtaining a Diploma in Clinical Social Work, she leads an initiative to promote inclusive development – Voices for Accessibility and Inclusion (VIA).
The Friendship Catalyst
Edwin’s story rapidly transformed, unveiling hope for multiple others when the young learner from Fundong [Divisional Headquarters of Boyo Division, located 35 kilometers east of Bamenda] met a purposeful educator who would revolutionize the study environment for learners with impairments through friendship. At a time when learners with disabilities faced segregation and institutional heads saw no place for students with impairments alongside their able-bodied peers, Dr. Longla Bridget recognized the critical gap. “When you socialize with your peers, it is easier for you to open up and solve academic problems even without your teacher,” Precious notes.
Aware of how Edwin’s peers and community were trapped in stereotypes, believing his disability could be contagious, the Socio-Economic Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities (SEEPD) Program, with Dr. Longla’s support, conceived and executed the “Circle of Friends” initiative at GBHS Bamenda.
The Circle of Friends suggested that students without disabilities build a network of collaboration around their peers with disabilities to help them overcome environmental hurdles. After the concept was presented, students who shared the same classrooms with this category of learners would make the choice to belong to this circle. Their only motivation at the time was empathy.
Building Bridges
Edwin became the pioneer beneficiary of this initiative. Dr. Longla, who led the implementation, explains that Edwin was surrounded by a group of friends who voluntarily committed to provide him support in class, on campus, and to facilitate his daily movements to and from school.
When the initiative was presented to students, those willing to provide support in pairs for two weeks each far outnumbered the actual need. What began as structured support quickly evolved into something more organic – the Circle of Friends transformed into a dynamic study group. The circle of friends would happily read through literature textbooks and interpret diagrams while Edwin absorbed the details with over 90 percent comprehension.
From a single student in Lower Sixth Arts, the number of students with disabilities requiring the support of a circle of friends grew to three by the end of that academic year – 2011/2012. The number of children with impairments at GBHS Bamenda has seen exponential growth over the years. Data from the Regional Resource Centre housed at GBHS Bamenda shows that in 2014, there were 35 students enrolled in the school, encouraged by an environment of acceptance. At the end of the 2024/2025 academic year, 18 of the 1619 students enrolled in GBHS Bamenda were learners with profound impairments. Enrollment in this school has witnessed a nose dive due to the armed conflict that has been lingering since 2017.
The Ripple Effect
The friendship became genuinely reciprocal. While his peers provided crucial support – reading textbooks, describing objects and visual cues that teachers missed explaining, assisting with campus navigation, and facilitating his overall integration – Edwin contributed his sharp intellect through lectures in their study group, earning him the nickname “The Philosopher.” The students argued that a philosopher is someone with strong intellectual acumen who is also critical.
“When learners hear from their teachers, they sometimes find it hard to grasp concepts compared to when they hear from their peers,” Dr. Longla observed. Just like Edwin, Precious, who now champions training for parents whose children present with learning disabilities on management approaches, affirms that going through GBHS Bamenda between 2018 and 2023, she sailed through her education with much ease, supported by her friendship ecosystem while she provided them with learning support. “My circle of friends helped me to be bold to share my ideas, get corrected, and listen to the ideas of others too,” she shared
This circle of friends rapidly grew into a community that inspired teachers and parents to enrol their children with disabilities in school. To Dr. Longla, the impact was “phenomenal” – twenty-five learners with hearing impairments were admitted to GBHS Bamenda the following academic year.
Besides giving their children with disabilities exposure to the classroom experience, the camaraderie around Edwin and other learners with impairments became so contagious that teachers who had previously resisted learning skills for special needs learners began acquiring skills in sign language and braille to effectively accommodate all categories of learners.
Progressive Journey
Today, GBHS Bamenda stands as a reference for inclusive education, thanks to the seed of friendship planted fourteen years ago. Moses Njong, a current student who made his way into Student Government as Religious Prefect in his first year of enrolment, describes the friendship atmosphere as “systemic.” His circle of friends includes teachers and administrators alike.
“There is never a boring day on campus. I feel loved, not pitied,” Moses shares, embodying the transformation that meaningful friendships have brought to inclusive education. Samantha Shu, an Upper Sixth science student at the same institution, is confident and full of admiration for the teaching profession, propelled by her supportive community at school. “I admire the way teachers teach in class. I like it when I share knowledge and inspire other people. I can’t wait to become a teacher,” she says about her dream.
Meanwhile, Precious continues to reap the rewards of her friendships, which originated at GBHS Bamenda. She maintains that her skills in resource mobilization and networking, which are key assets to the work she does, stem from the circle of friends. “When I have activities to carry out, I share my idea with friends, and if that idea matches their interest, that is how we find ourselves creating change without cost,” she said.
Limitations
The positive outcomes, notwithstanding, implementing the circle of friends has been marked by challenges, with some limitations still lingering, as observed by Dr. Longla close to a decade and a half later. “Learners with disabilities are still seen as needing help rather than as equal contributors, which places them in an inferior position,” she regrets. “Non-disabled peers even hesitate to volunteer because of beliefs, such as the fear that disability might be contagious. These perceptions limit participation and prevent genuine, reciprocal friendships from forming.”
Moving Forward To address these limitations, Dr. Longla makes a case for an approach that should focus on building mutual benefits and stronger bonds among learners. “A strength-based approach which highlights the talents of both disabled and non-disabled learners so that each is seen as a contributor.” She hopes that skill-building sessions like basic sign language, braille, or inclusive sports will ensure that all participants gain new skills and deepen their understanding of inclusion.
