Sedric Darlyl Ntemfack

Sedric Darlyl  Ntemfack is a PhD student in History at the University of Dschang (West Cameroon). His research focuses on reforms to Cameroon's education system, their impact on national development, and socio-economic dynamics between the colonial and post-colonial periods. 

The project

Title: Convincing with figures: the statistical strategies of the French colonial administration in Cameroon vis-à-vis the League of Nations and the United Nations (1916-1960)

"This communication project aims to explore how the French colonial administration in Cameroon used statistics as a strategic tool to legitimize its educational action before the League of Nations and the United Nations, and to assess the impact of this action. Having acquired the international territory of Cameroon in 1916 (under mandate and trusteeship), France was somewhat compelled to convince by its achievements, particularly in education. The central problem of this study is based on the following crucial questions: who were the key players involved in defining, collecting, interpreting and presenting educational statistics? What methods were used to select and “arrange” statistical data in order to justify colonial educational action before the League of Nations and the UN? How were figures used to construct a legitimizing narrative of colonial education, while minimizing or obscuring certain critical aspects? What information was deliberately omitted or downplayed in statistical reports to embellish colonial educational action? What impact did this manipulation of figures have locally and internationally, and on contemporary educational policies in Cameroon? The analysis will be based on a variety of primary and unpublished sources. These include colonial administration reports to the League of Nations and the United Nations, debates at the Mandate and Trusteeship Councils, and official correspondence on the process of collecting, sorting and analyzing these figures. We will also use autobiographical testimonies from former colonizers and students."

Hosting institution: Université de Lille - Université Paris 8

Selective Bibliography

• Ntemfack Sedric Darlyl (2023), « Le découpage du calendrier scolaire au Cameroun (1960-2020) : enjeu politique ou pédagogique  », in Revue Hybrides, 1(2), 242–259.
• Ntemfack Sedric Darlyl (2023), « Les petits pas vers la constitution d’un corps d’inspecteurs camerounais de l’enseignement technique et professionnel (1947-1972) », in Panya Padama (Dir.), L’inspection scolaire et le pilotage pédagogique au Cameroun et en Afrique : enjeux, défis et perspectives d’un corps d’élite à la croisée des chemins, Yaoundé, MONANGE, 5-21.
• Ntemfack Sedric Darlyl & Ngoufo Sogang Théodore (2022), « La formation des enseignants du secondaire technique et professionnel au Cameroun : l’entre-temps de l’avènement d’une véritable école de formation (1948-1979», in Grassfields, 2, 255-275.