Sahel EDU

Running a lower secondary school: from sequences to the BEPC, without re-entering marks

A lower secondary school, or collège, is the first cycle of secondary education: one teacher per subject, sequences that pace the year, a report card to produce every term, discipline to keep and, at the end, the BEPC and orientation. Sahel EDU, software for lower secondary schools, links these tasks: marks are entered once, and the averages, ranks, report cards and candidate lists follow from them.

What makes a lower secondary school heavier to run than a primary school

In Cameroon, the first cycle lasts four years on the francophone side (from the 6e to the 3e) and five years on the anglophone side (Form 1 to Form 5). Under the 1998 orientation law, moving on to the second cycle requires the diploma that closes the first cycle: the BEPC is therefore the stake of the final year.

The year is divided into terms, with continuous assessment, and the end-of-year composition takes the place of a third-term composition. In common practice, a term has two sequences.

Several teachers who work in several classes: the timetable must never put them in two places at once.
Marks to gather subject by subject before each class council.
Discipline that calls for a scale, a count of hours of absence and a disciplinary council.
Orientation to prepare from the 5e (second modern language), then in the 3e (series).
Families who want to know how their child is doing.

Sequences, report cards and the class council

Sahel EDU follows the Cameroonian cycle: a sequence is a child period of its term, teachers enter marks in the sequences, the term is calculated (average of the sequences for each subject, then coefficients) and the annual average counts only the terms.

The Cameroonian report card carries the marks of each sequence, the subject average and coefficient, the rank in each subject and the overall rank, the highest and lowest marks in the class, the class average, the teacher’s name, absences in hours, distinctions and work sanctions, the council’s decision and the signatures. It fits on one A4 page whatever the number of subjects, and a whole class comes out as a single PDF.

Distinctions proposed from the school’s own thresholds, never hard-coded; the council decides.
Closing the period: once closed, it is frozen.
End-of-year decision: admitted, admitted on condition, repeats, redirected or excluded.
Coefficients set subject by subject; for the first cycle, the head checks and confirms them before publication.

Discipline, absences and the disciplinary council

Absences are counted in hours, excused or not. The school sets its scale from its own regulations; Sahel EDU proposes the measure that matches the total, but it is the senior supervisor or the head who decides: there is never an automatic sanction.

Sanctions range from a warning to exclusion, and a permanent exclusion cannot be recorded outside the disciplinary council, whose members, facts, decision and minutes are logged. Summonses to parents are traced with the follow-up given.

Absences and late arrivals in hours; excusing in person with the senior supervisor by default.
School regulations scale that the school can set.
Summons to parents, with the follow-up given.
Students at risk spotted (unexcused absences, low or falling average), with a log of calls to families.

Orientation after the 5e and the 3e, and the BEPC

Orientation is prepared in two steps: the choice of the second modern language at the end of the 5e, then the choice of series at the end of the 3e. Families state their wishes from their own space, and the head follows up the decisions taken.

The BEPC is run by the DECC. Sahel EDU prepares the exact list of candidates of the exam class, flags birth certificates to regularise and missing unique student numbers, and produces a candidate file in the exam office’s template, to be checked against the official file before it is submitted. Nothing is transmitted automatically.

Mock BEPC: table numbers, anonymous numbers, anonymous marking and a second marking if needed.
National unique number recorded, never invented.
Certificate of success and school record book, with a QR Code once the school’s opening authorisation has been verified.

Limits, and where to start

Exam fees are paid to the State, not to the school: Sahel EDU only notes the reference of the official receipt, and it does not replace the official registration. Results stay hidden from students and families until the head has published them.

To get started, import your students and staff from Excel, set the subjects, coefficients and distinction thresholds, then generate the timetable.

Import students and staff with the guided import.
Set subjects, coefficients and distinction thresholds.
Choose a timetable from ten commented proposals.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Can teachers enter their marks from their phone?

Yes, once, for their own classes only. Entries are kept on the phone when the network drops and sent when the connection returns.

Is the Cameroonian report card complete?

It carries the sequences, the rank in each subject, the class statistics, the teacher’s name, absences in hours, distinctions and work sanctions, the council’s decision and the signatures, all on a single A4 page.

Can an anglophone or bilingual school use it?

Yes. The interface, report cards and documents exist in English, and a bilingual school keeps its francophone and anglophone sections in the same tool.

Can the head set the distinction thresholds?

Yes. The thresholds for the honour roll, encouragements, congratulations, warnings and work reprimands are the school’s own.

Can we try it before committing?

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

Try Sahel EDU free for 30 days, no commitment. Afterwards, the price is negotiated with your school and confirmed in writing.

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