How many Cameroonians are actually bilingual in its two official languages (English and French)?
Data Source: Cameroon’s Central Bureau of the Census and Population Studies, 3rd General Population and Housing Census, 2005.
Data Explanation:
45 years after reunification (in 2005, when the 3rd and most recent General Population and Housing Census was conducted), of the total population aged 15 years and above, only 12 % were bilingual in English and French. The overall level of illiteracy with respect to both official languages, meaning persons who can read or write in neither English nor French, stood at 30 % of the population. Therefore the ‘effective’ population with the prospect of being bilingual, i.e. acquiring the second language was 70 % of Cameroonians. However, persons who can read or write in only French or English make up 58% of the total population. Thus, monolinguals (persons who can use only one, but not the other official language) make up 83% of the officially literate population of Cameroon. As at 2005 (the last census), 45 years after reunification, only 1 in 5 literate Cameroonians had learnt the other official language.
NB: In the 15 years since the last census in 2005, due to globalization, there has been an increase in English language learning, including cross-enrolment by French-speaking parents of their children into the English educational system. New census data may reveal improvements in bilingualism levels.