Mbuji-Mayi, October 5th, 2021 (CPA) .- The Minister in charge of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education (EPST), Pr Tony Mwaba, has placed the 2021-2022 school year under the sign of rigor for research excellence and the recovery of the educational sector. He said so in his speech at the launch ceremony for the said year on Monday at the Bena Kabongo primary school in Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of Kasai Oriental province. « This new school year opens in a very specific context, marked by the health disarray of coronavirus and also important political changes », he declared, welcoming the will expressed many times by the Head of State Félix Tshisekedi, for whom the education of youth constitutes the basis of development in the DRC, for which Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde has been given the task of monitoring. Tony Mwaba Kazadi also called on those working in this sector to seize this opportunity to work with determination, towards a competitive, inclusive and quality education system, like other nations of the world.
Minister’s agenda
The Minister of EPST also said his determination « to continue and intensify efforts for the permanent training of teachers and all managers of EPST, on effective teaching practices, through rational management mechanisms, harmonious and modern Congolese education system ”. For him, it is appropriate to refer to the central theme of the last special meetings of school promotion held in Kinshasa, « Rigor and excellence for the recovery of education », to ensure the recovery of the EPST sector. Previously, the interim governor of Kasai Oriental, Jeannette Longa Muswamba, paid tribute to the Head of State for having kept his commitment to make basic education compulsory and free, before declaring that the population of his entity feels honored the choice of the city of Mbuji-Mayi for the launch of the 2021-2022 school year. The symbolic handing over and distribution of UNICEF school supplies and textbooks in some schools by EPST Minister Tony Mwaba brought the events to a close, which was attended by national MPs and senators, provincial MPs and members of the government provincial.
School resuming effective in Kinshasa
The provincial minister of education, Charles Mbutamuntu Lwanga, indicated on Monday that the 2021-2022 school year is effective in all the educational provinces, at the end of his round of supervision carried out with the provincial directors in some public schools. , Catholic, Protestant and private members approved by the city of Kinshasa.
He encouraged parents to send children to school so that their offspring did not fall behind on the school calendar. In addition, the director of the educational province of Tshangu, Robert Kongi, who also visited some schools under his jurisdiction, including Maman wa Boboto, Don Bosco, Elykia, Sona pangu Ep Kwilu, Iti Masina and Ndjili, invited parents to ban the practice according to which the effective re-entry takes place 2 or 3 days after the normal opening. For his part, his colleague from the educational province of Mont-Amba, Matthieu Mushiko, indicated that his jurisdiction has achieved a peaceful return, after a constant fact, particularly in the following schools: Mokengeli Institute, Mpiko High School and Saint Théophile College .
Tshopo: hesitation in large public schools
Teachers from large public schools in the city of Kisangani did not all return to school on Monday for the start of the 2021-2022 school year, the CPA observed in its rounds. These include those working at Mapendano and Anuarite Catholic High Schools, at the Tufuate Institute of the 21st CNCA, and at Maele College who, for the most part, preferred to observe the situation. The teachers met in the field justified this hesitation by numerous announcements, by the unions, of strike movements by teachers for non-payment of the 2nd and 3rd salary levels and the mechanization of new units.
The Kisangani School of Excellence, located 9km from the city on the road to Bangboka International Airport, resumed classes on Monday at 7:30 am ‘, it was noted on the other hand. “We respected the slogan of the Minister of EPST. This is why the teachers are in the classrooms. Moreover, it is a feeling of joy for us, seeing our teachers affiliated to SYECO resume service with all their colleagues in the country ”, declared its rector, Paul Katenga Penyamo. In addition, the interim governor of the province of Tshopo, Maurice Abibu Sakapela Bin Mungamba has set, under a decree made public at the weekend, the school fees for the year 2021-2022 in his entity. These costs amount in particular to CDF 21,000 for the public and private nursery cycle as well as private primary, to CDF 29,000 for the 7th , 8th secondary cycle as well as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th general and normal humanity, to 31,000fc for the secondary cycle technical and social option and 43,000fc for secondary cycle, vocational option.
Mbandaka: effective but timid return to school
On the other hand, the city of Mbandaka, capital of the province of Equateur experienced, Monday, an effective but timid 2021-2022 school year, noted the CPA, after the round carried out in various schools, both public and private. . In these schools that have opened their doors, teachers have introduced themselves, their students reluctant to attend class on the very first day, as usual. Some parents interviewed say they have kept their children at home because of a statement from a teachers’ union that conditioned the start of the school year by taking charge of unpaid teachers and new units, it was reported. The provincial president of the Collective of Approved Private Schools and promoter of the Mputu college, Prof. Faustin Mputu Bokenga, said he was delighted that the start of the school year is effective, “the President of the Republic, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo , considering education as one of the major pillars for the emergence and sustainable development of the DRC ”. In this context, he asked parents who hesitate and delay in sending their children to school to change their decision.
Mai-Ndombe: the interim governor, witness to the starting of the school year
The interim governor of Mai-Ndombe, Ambroise Nkele Nkosi, realized, after a round carried out on Monday in some schools in Inongo, the effective start of the new school year in this part of the country. He said he was satisfied with the presence of both teachers and students in schools, before inviting late teachers in particular to join their posts, and parents of students to raise awareness of their children, the courses having started as soon as possible. first day. Ambroise Nkele Nkosi was surrounded by several authorities of the educational province, both from the public sector and under contract.ACP/