Sahel EDU

Honour roll, encouragement, congratulations, work warning and work blame: setting thresholds and deciding

At the end of each term, the class council awards distinctions for good results and work sanctions for insufficient results. We found no national text that sets the thresholds: they belong to each school’s internal rules, and it is the council that decides. This guide explains the vocabulary, shows how to build a grid of thresholds, recalls the council’s power of judgement and the precautions to take when announcing decisions.

The vocabulary: distinctions and work sanctions

The end-of-term class council awards two families of marks linked to results. Distinctions reward: the honour roll, to which encouragement or congratulations are sometimes added. Work sanctions alert: the work warning, then the work blame (a formal reprimand). They are different from conduct sanctions (a conduct warning or blame, exclusions), which belong to school life and to the discipline rules.

These marks are in common use in Cameroonian schools, and their list is well known. According to the press, a MINESEC notice of January 2023 mentions warnings and blames among the sanctions that internal rules may provide for, and recalls the ban on corporal punishment.

Honour roll: recognises a good term of work.
Encouragement: added to the honour roll for a very good level or marked effort.
Congratulations: added to the honour roll for an excellent level.
Work warning: flags insufficient results.
Work blame: flags very insufficient results.

Who sets the thresholds: no national text found

We found no national text that sets the averages that give access to the honour roll, encouragement, congratulations, the work warning or the work blame. These thresholds belong to each school’s internal rules and to the decision of the class council. If your rules do not set them, that is the first thing to write.

Values therefore vary from one school to another: some use 12 out of 20 for the honour roll, others 13. Be wary of figures read on the internet, often copied from rules that are not yours: a threshold only has value if it appears in your rules, is known to families and is applied to everyone.

Building a grid of thresholds: an example to adapt

Here is a frequently seen grid, out of 20. It is an example, not a standard: adopt your own values, in writing, before the first council of the year.

Three rules of construction. The thresholds are ordered: the blame is below the warning, which is below the honour roll, itself below encouragement and then congratulations. The same average never gives both a distinction and a work sanction. Finally, thresholds are expressed out of 20: if the school marks out of 10 or 100, convert them to the scale (12 out of 20 becomes 6 out of 10 or 60 out of 100).

Honour roll: an average of at least 12, with no conduct blame or exclusion in the period.
Encouragement: an average of at least 14, together with the honour roll.
Congratulations: an average of at least 16, together with the honour roll.
Work warning: an average below 10.
Work blame: an average below 8.

The council’s power of judgement

The average proposes, the council decides. It may withhold the honour roll from a student whose conduct is not satisfactory, or grant encouragement to a student whose efforts justify it. In that case it says so and gives its reasons in the minutes.

To keep the decision fair, the council applies the same rules to every student and avoids two pitfalls: favouritism, which rewards a student without the rules providing for it, and automatism, which applies a threshold without looking at the student’s situation (illness, long absence, change of class).

No distinction after a conduct blame or an exclusion in the same period: a common practice, to be written into the rules.
An average achieved with many unexcused absences calls for a discussion.
Student who joined during the period: decide in advance whether they can receive a distinction.
A work sanction comes with a measure of support (remediation, a meeting with the family), not a bare statement.

Announcing and applying the decisions

A badly announced mark hurts or demotivates. A few precautions avoid most incidents.

Put the decision on the report card, and explain the reason to a family that asks.
Do not post the list of students who received sanctions. The honour roll may be posted; on a public website, ask the family’s consent.
Never link a work sanction to corporal or humiliating punishment: the 1998 framework law bans corporal punishment.
Keep work and conduct apart: hours of absence and behaviour belong to the discipline scale, not to the average.
Keep the decisions of each period, so that you can answer a challenge.

What Sahel EDU proposes, and what the council decides

In Sahel EDU, the head of school sets the school’s five thresholds; a check enforces the order blame, warning, honour roll, encouragement, congratulations. At the start, customary values are offered (12, 14 and 16 for the distinctions, 10 and 8 for the sanctions), which the head of school replaces. The term council proposes the marks from the average brought back to a mark out of 20; it never proposes a distinction for an average that calls for a work sanction, nor after a conduct blame or an exclusion in the period.

The council confirms or corrects each proposal; its recorded decision is what is printed on the report card. The proposal is never a decision. The honour roll can also be printed, and the appearance of a distinguished student on the school’s public website requires the family’s consent.

Frequently asked questions

What average is needed for the honour roll?

We found no national text that sets it. 12 out of 20 is common and some schools use 13: the internal rules are authoritative.

What is the difference between a work warning and a conduct warning?

The first sanctions insufficient results, the second behaviour (absences, indiscipline). They are decided and recorded separately.

Can a student receive both a distinction and a work sanction?

No: for the same period, an average gives either a distinction or a work sanction, never both.

Can the class council depart from the proposal drawn from the average?

Yes, as long as it gives its reasons in the minutes. In Sahel EDU, the system proposes and the council decides.

Can I try these settings on my own classes?

Yes. The free trial lasts 30 days, with no commitment. The price is then negotiated with each school and can be read on the Pricing page.

Try Sahel EDU for free

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