MGP- EPST: The World Bank Vice-President promotes the 178 toll-free number

Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank’s Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, visited the facilities of the “Allô École” service in Kinshasa on Tuesday, June 20. This platform, part of the Complaint Management Mechanism, is responsible for receiving, among other things, complaints and reports of abuse in schools throughout the Republic. Allô École: Much More Than Just a Call Center It is housed within and operates under the supervision of the EPST Communication Management Directorate (DGC-EPST) but is coordinated by the General Secretariat. The World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa was therefore welcomed to the DGC-EPST facilities by the coordinator of the Project for Equity and Strengthening of the Education System (PERSE), the heads of departments at the DGC, the Director of the EPST Human Resources Directorate, and members of the Office of the President of the Republic. Victoria Kwakwa first toured the facilities housing the department’s servers and telecommunications equipment. These facilities are the most secure within the DGC-EPST, given the sensitive nature of the information stored there. After touring these facilities, Victoria Kwakwa proceeded to the call center where calls to the Allô-école toll-free number 178 are handled. Under the close escort of the DGC department heads, the vice president of this Bretton Woods institution for Eastern and Southern Africa received a detailed briefing on the operations of this call center and its role in ensuring the ministry’s accountability to staff, parents, students, partners, and others involved in this subsector. The “Allô École” call center was designed to address the lack of viable communication channels between the central administration on the one hand and the decentralized administrative structures of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (EPST) on the other. It employs several dozen agents trained for this task. They work on a rotating schedule to ensure daily, seamless service. This technological system supports the implementation of the Complaint Management Mechanism (CMM), coordinated by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of EPST, to ensure good governance of the education system. “When we receive complaints at the end of the day, we forward them to the Human Resources Department for processing within 48 hours for requests for information. The HR Department cross-checks the complaints by categorizing them according to different sectors. Sensitive complaints, including those involving sexual violence, follow the administrative procedure. And the accused are sanctioned within the following 20 days. Complaints are reported to the regional office of the World Bank, with copies sent to PERSE, the HRD, and other departments. Regarding support, we offer judicial, legal, medical, and psychosocial support,” explained Ms. Christelle Nsambu of the MGP department. The World Bank is committed to promoting the 178 hotline At the end of her visit to the DGC-EPST, Victoria Kwakwa pledged her support for the “Allô École” service, before calling for the promotion of the toll-free number 178. “These are the kinds of issues that concern us. You can count on us; we will engage traditional authorities to ensure that issues of violence are addressed. If you need financial assistance, we will ensure that the project is completed. “We must raise awareness among young people to report wrongdoing and change mindsets. We must also promote the 178 hotline,” she emphasized. With 30 years of experience, Ghanaian Victoria Kwakwa oversees the World Bank’s activities in 26 countries. In the DRC, the World Bank specifically supports the implementation of free primary education through the PERSE project, whose development objective is to reduce school fees for poor households, enroll as many children as possible in school, and strengthen fundamental education systems. Launched in 2019, PERSE is being implemented in ten provinces. At the halfway point, it has already enabled the government to enroll more than two million children in school. As a reminder, Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, is visiting the DRC from June 17 to 24, 2023. After Kinshasa, she will also visit the provinces of Kasaï Central and North Kivu to discuss with national authorities, diplomats, economic operators, and members of civil society how to strengthen the impact of development interventions. Dan de Dieu Kayanda