Improving basic education and retiring teachers at the heart of a meeting between the General Secretariat and AFD

Juvenal Senga Kaubo, Secretary General for National Education and New Citizenship, held a working meeting with Hervé Conan, Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of the program to build capacity in the education sector and improve access to basic education.

Discussions focused on consolidating the operational mechanisms necessary for implementing this transformative program, which aims to enhance the status of the teaching profession and make it more attractive to young people. To this end, the development of a procedures manual was identified as an essential tool for ensuring the consistency and coordination of administrative and technical processes.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to review projects related to the construction of school infrastructure and training centers, as well as the reform plan aimed at updating the training curriculum for new teachers. These measures are part of a process of gradually renewing the teaching workforce.

The issue of retiring teachers who have reached the legal retirement age received particular attention. On this subject, the Secretary General reiterated the principle that “no recruitment without retirement and no retirement without funding,” emphasizing the need for an appropriate financial mechanism to ensure the sustainability of the process.

Participants emphasized the importance of coordinated involvement by the relevant sectoral ministries, particularly those responsible for Finance, the Budget, and National Education, to ensure the effective and sustainable implementation of planned actions.

This consultation also aimed to strengthen internal coordination among the departments involved, with a view to aligning interventions with specific operational objectives for fiscal year 2026, considered a decisive milestone for achieving tangible results. The AFD Director reaffirmed his institution’s commitment to supporting these reforms, announcing in particular the upcoming signing of a memorandum of understanding with CENESSAP regarding the teacher retirement mechanism.

The program prioritizes basic education.

Building on this momentum, the Secretary General for National Education also met with the heads of the provincial education offices (PROVED) for an institutional meeting, reaffirming his willingness to strengthen collaboration in support of sectoral objectives.

Thierry Mbebangu