How a dream brought home from Germany in 2003 grew into one of the West Region's most trusted school groups.
Behind Rainbow School Complex is a simple dream: a school where the children of both the rich and the poor could learn together, in a good atmosphere, close to home.
A family decision made in Germany
Chief Charles Morfaw was a student of pedagogy at the University of Bonn when he succeeded his father as Chief of Bellah (Fontem, Cameroon) in 1991. In 1993 he married Morene Tazitabong, who also studied pedagogy — in Cologne. Both returned to Cameroon not for a job but to build something: an education that their community could trust and afford.
Choosing Dschang
They chose Dschang for its Mediterranean climate at 1,600 metres above sea level, its high birth rate and its status as a university town — yet one without a bilingual kindergarten and primary school at the time. It was also close to Fontem, where they came from. After moving from Bonn to Dschang in August 2000, they spent time acquiring land and building their first classrooms while running a small shop to fund the work.
The first pupils
In September 2003, 93 pupils were admitted into Kindergarten 1, Kindergarten 2 and Primary 1. By June 2009, Rainbow sent out its first batch with 100% success both at the Government Common Entrance and the First School Leaving Certificate — with the highest number of children on the Honours List in the West Region of Cameroon. The 2010 batch repeated the same success.
Growing to meet families
The school began in Foreke, south of Dschang. When families in the north of town came asking for a closer campus, Rainbow built a second primary school at Foto. Later came RAIBICOL, the only pure boarding secondary school in the Menoua division, producing excellent results at both GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level. Today, Rainbow Integral College (RIC) completes the group as a day school offering both general and technical education.
Today Rainbow School Complex serves families across four campuses — still guided by the same dream that was first spoken in Bonn in 1993.