[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.08]Schools in Cameroon re-opened this week for the beginning of a new school year. [00:07.40]But an estimated 100,000 children in northern Cameroon are not attending classes. [00:15.16]They have been forced from their homes because of the conflict with Boko Haram militants. [00:23.48]Schools in some areas are overcrowded [00:26.76]and the building of more schools has been delayed because of security concerns. [00:34.56]Sixteen-year-old Lara Salamatou fled her home in Kerawa three months ago. [00:43.08]She says she then tried to go to the government high school in the town of Maroua. [00:49.40]She said the school in Maroua is overcrowded and has few teachers. [00:58.80]She wants conditions there to improve, [01:02.84]and would like to continue her education. [01:06.92]Officials recently closed her school in Kerawa and 160 other schools [01:13.68]because of attacks by Boko Haram supporters. [01:18.20]The militants are said to have entered Cameroon from Nigeria. [01:23.88]The government says at least 100,000 displaced children are not in classes this year. [01:33.32]At an elementary school in Maroua, classes have begun. [01:39.16]But about 500 young people are waiting outside the building. [01:45.96]Teacher Njah Clementine says school officials are refusing to admit children [01:53.96]whose parents have yet to make payments for their education. [01:59.16]She knows many of those waiting have been displaced because of the conflict. [02:05.32]She says the government has yet to tell the school to admit the boys and girls. [02:12.44]She says many parents wait until the last minute to make the payments. [02:21.56]She said some of them beg the school to let their children go to class even without paying. [02:29.60]But she says for those who have paid, [02:33.36]their children are in class and there is effective teaching. [02:38.48]Teachers are teaching. They prepared their lessons last week. [02:44.56]Education officials have moved teachers paid by the government [02:49.94]to schools in areas at risk of Boko Haram attacks. [02:55.92]But since 2014, some of those teachers have refused to go. [03:02.88]This causes more problems for the schools in those areas. [03:08.56]Across the border in northern Nigeria, [03:12.28]Boko Haram has targeted government schools and schoolchildren. [03:18.76]Youssouf Hadidja Alim is Cameroon's Minister of Basic Education. [03:25.96]She says the government is building schools in safe areas. [03:30.88]She says the government has built more than 200 classrooms, [03:39.20]87 buildings with restrooms and 56 water wells. [03:46.16]She says the government has also built more than 6,000 school benches. [03:53.28]And it has paid extra money to teachers [03:56.96]in an effort to persuade them to teach in some areas. [04:02.12]More schools are planned but have not been built. [04:07.80]Aminou Sanda Zoua is the top basic education official [04:13.56]in the Far North area of Cameroon. [04:17.56]He says Boko Haram fighters target companies building the schools. [04:23.32]He says workers began building the schools, [04:28.16]but stopped because of problems with security. [04:32.56]He says crews are waiting for the right time to complete the work. [04:37.56]But he says some classrooms have been built by the Army [04:42.72]and they are ready to be used. [04:45.56]I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.