Kinshasa, July 7th, 2025 (CPA) – Congolese parents have been encouraged to steer their children towards technical education during an interview on Monday with an associate professor at the National Pedagogical University (UPN) in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
« At the moment, it’s vital to get children into technical education so that they can not only look for work but also create it. We don’t have many jobs in our country. With technical education, children will be able to create, to undertake by putting their knowledge into practice, instead of staying at home waiting for a hypothetical job after their secondary or higher education », has said Denis Shanga, associate professor at the National Pedagogical University (UPN). With regard to the standard of teaching, Professor Shanga has expressed the hope that the public authorities would put the social conditions of teachers at the centre of their concerns, in order to motivate them to provide quality work for the betterment of Congolese society.
« The standard of education is falling in our country because teachers are not paid a salary commensurate with the work they do. They are regarded as an old wheelbarrow abandoned after the construction of a fine building », he has said. According to him, it is imperative that meritocracy takes its place for the harmonious advancement of the country, by taking the right man in the right place.
Mr Shanga has also welcomed the peace agreement signed on June 27th, in Washington between DRC and Rwanda after 30 years of war, which will enable the areas under Rwandan occupation to regain their peace and allow education to resume peacefully in the eastern part of the country. An associate professor at the National Pedagogical University since April 1st, 2023, Denis Shanga has worked in 2015 as provincial director of national education (Proved) in several of the country’s provinces, including Kongo Central, Kasai Oriental, Haut-Lomami and Kwilu. He has also worked as an adviser in the cabinet of the honorary minister in charge of national education, Maker Mwangu. CPA/