Inclusion on Paper: Legal Frameworks, Policy Commitments, and Institutional Realities of Inclusive Education in Cameroon

Abstract

Inclusive education has established itself as an international norm, enshrined in the major instruments of disability rights law and reaffirmed by the development commitments of the twenty-first century. In response, Cameroon has built a coherent legal and policy architecture: Law No. 2010/002 on the protection and promotion of persons with disabilities, the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Education and Training Sector Plan 2020-2030. This critical review article sets that normative architecture against the institutional realities observable in the primary schools of Yaoundé. Drawing on a systematic reading of the scientific literature, institutional reports, and available field data, it documents a persistent gap between legal ambition and daily practice. The indicators converge: fewer than six hours devoted to special educational needs in initial teacher training, adapted infrastructure present in fewer than 3% of primary schools, the absence of any national screening mechanism, and weak coordination between the health and education sectors. The analysis shows that this gap does not stem from a deficit of normative will but from a chain of implementation conditions that remain unmet, chief among them teacher preparation, financing, and infrastructure. The article concludes that inclusion in Cameroon remains largely declarative and offers ranked recommendations to narrow the distance between the text and the classroom, from a perspective attentive to the specificity of the sub-Saharan context.