Mbwela Lodge: Government and unions in talks for a peaceful start to the new school year

The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the EPST union representatives have been in talks since Thursday, July 20, 2023, at Mbuela Lodge in the city of Kisantu, Kongo-Central Province. These meetings are part of the ongoing dialogue initiated by the head of the EPST with union representatives from all sides to ensure a peaceful start to the school year. This time, the focus will be on reviewing all the commitments made by the government during the evaluation of the Addendum to the Bibwa Memorandum of Understanding, signed in Mbuela on November 21, 2021. It should be noted that all union representatives are unanimous on this issue: no new demands, nor any further evaluations to be conducted. They expect only that the government honor the commitments made during the Mbuela III conference, as supported by the official communiqué signed in April by the Minister of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi. It should be noted that this policy of ongoing dialogue initiated in this education sub-sector by Professor Tony Mwaba quickly yielded satisfactory results. Indeed, during the 2022–2023 school year that has just ended, Tony Mwaba Kazadi succeeded in ensuring strict adherence to the school calendar—something that had not happened in approximately 30 years. Rigobert Mukendi