Tony Mwaba inspects the rehabilitation of official schools in Kinshasa

Having successfully established free primary education in the country’s public schools—a flagship program of the President’s five-year term—the Minister of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, is now focusing on improving the quality of education. This explains his visit to the field on Wednesday, September 27, 2023—a day dedicated to touring schools—to assess the progress of renovation work at major public schools in three educational provinces of the capital: Kinshasa/Funa, Kinshasa/Mont-Amba, and Kinshasa/Plateau.

The first stop on the minister’s tour took him to Matonge 1 and 3 Elementary Schools in the Kinshasa/Funa educational province. Professor Tony Mwaba oversaw the installation of security grilles designed to combat crime, as well as the ceiling work in the classrooms. Éloi Kumbo, Chief Director of the National Directorate for Construction, Maintenance, Rehabilitation, and Management of School Infrastructure (DINAC), explained the technical details to him. He informed the minister that the work began on September 1, 2023, and was originally expected to be completed within four months, but must be extended by one additional month due to the ongoing classes currently being held in the classrooms.

The head of the EPST then visited Matonge 2 and 4 Elementary Schools and the Matonge Technical High School, where work is also continuing.

Immediately afterward, the minister headed to the Kinshasa/Mont-Amba educational province, the second stop on his tour. He first visited EPA 1 and 2 in Lemba to see firsthand the new prefabricated buildings currently under construction. One has a total of nine classrooms, and the other is an administrative building with a restroom facility.

Next, Professor Tony Mwaba visited the Lemba Pedagogical Institute, where DINAC is tasked with rehabilitating two buildings each containing six classrooms—for a total of 12 classrooms—as well as two administrative buildings and the sanitary facilities.

The Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (EPST) made his final stop in the Kinshasa/Plateau educational province, where he inspected the rehabilitation of all sections of Maman Sifa Primary School in Kinkole, in the commune of N’sele—work that DINAC began a week ago.

"We wanted to visit all the sites where official schools are undergoing renovation to assess the progress of the work. We say that after free education, the battleground is now the quality of teaching. I must start by improving school infrastructure to provide children with the best learning environment, and we have decided to begin with the major public schools," he said.

At the end of his day of visits, Professor Tony Mwaba made a surprise visit to Le Baobab School, also in Kinkole, an educational institution that was supposed to close due to financial unsustainability following a decision by the Provincial Director of the EPST Kinshasa/Plateau. The minister quickly realized that the school principal had refused to comply with this measure. On site, he issued firm instructions to the Provincial Director to close the school immediately. It was also decided to reassign the students to the nearest viable schools.

Christian BELLA