Better education for children in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Background information

The education system in the DR Congo is in a poor state. While educational opportunities are higher in Kinshasa (92 percent of children in Kinshasa attend elementary school and 55.6 percent attend secondary school), access to education is not easy for children in the province of Kwango. In addition to the low enrolment rate in primary school (67.6%), the poor quality of the schools and the frequent school drop-outs often lead to a very low enrolment rate in secondary school (25.9%) due to a lack of resources. The school infrastructure is in an extremely poor state both in the poverty-stricken districts of Kinshasa and in the province of Kwango in general. Inadequate and missing school desks, worn blackboards and a lack of sufficient teaching and learning materials hinder pupils' learning.

Project goals

The project aims to enable 37,000 children a year in the poverty-stricken districts of Kinshasa and in the hard-to-reach regions of Kwango province to build a good future for themselves thanks to a primary school education. As the state hardly provides any infrastructure, further training for teaching staff and awareness-raising on current issues, the project ensures this.

Target group

The target group includes the students of the 158 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools of the CEK as well as their teachers. The vast majority of the students come from families that are affected by great poverty.

Activities

The focus of the school project is to ensure regular school lessons.

• Improvement of school infrastructure: replacement of dilapidated schools, construction of hygienic school toilets, renovation work on schools
• Teachers receive further training to improve the quality of their teaching.
• The school communities (teachers, students and parents) accompanied by the project team manage small projects such as school gardens and small livestock breeding in order to generate a small income for the maintenance of the school infrastructure.
• Raising girls' and boys' awareness of gender-based violence and human rights.
• Sensitization for hygiene
• Scholarships for children from the poorest families.

Project progress

In total, the school project supports almost 37,000 pupils in CEK schools every year. The Lunda secondary school has been completed and opened in May 2022. School lessons have started. A school garden was added in 2023. The quality of teaching is crucial for sustainable school education: the focus in 2023 was particularly on the quality of school education and teacher training. In addition, 60 scholarships were awarded to particularly vulnerable pupils in 2023.

In 2023, 60 hand-washing stations and hand sanitizers were purchased and distributed to eight elementary school to ensure that hygiene standards remain high.

In cooperation with the agricultural project, school gardens were set up at five other schools of the CEK partner church in 2023 to raise awareness among pupils and at the same time produce food for the local population This project was successfully continued.