Improving the quality of education: Tony Mwaba unveils the five-year roadmap and advocates a relentless fight against corruption

The Minister of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, accompanied by Deputy Minister Aminata Namasia Bazego, convened a meeting on Thursday, October 26, 2023, several members of his cabinet and senior officials from his ministry for a working session focused primarily on improving the quality of education and the five-year roadmap outlining the action plans to be followed for its implementation.

The aim was to outline several objectives to be pursued, including limiting unnecessary travel by teachers during the payroll period through a mobilization session on the use of payroll monitoring tools established by the National Control Directorate, Payroll Preparation and Management of Teacher and Administrative Staff in Educational Institutions (DINACOPE), by applying the payroll site mapping proposed by this directorate; ensuring timely payroll processing in hard-to-reach areas; implement a policy to establish non-contracted elite schools in every educational province where more than 2,000 children—including those from villages or low-income families—will benefit each year from quality education on par with that of renowned private schools; streamline teacher recruitment procedures in public schools; continue efforts to improve teachers’ socio-professional conditions; strengthen teachers’ capacity; rejuvenate the teaching staff and the corps of inspectors so as to enable the General Inspectorate of the EPST to carry out its missions effectively and efficiently by restructuring and modernizing it, including the creation of a unit responsible for teacher recruitment; and review the school curriculum.

All these issues are part of the current initiative by the Minister of EPST to improve the quality of student learning, a firm commitment of the President of the Republic and Head of State, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, following the successful implementation of free primary education in public schools across the DRC.

On the same day, Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi also met with the National Coordinators of Contract Schools. During this meeting, he urged them all to abandon practices that undermine ethical standards, including the diversion of school operating funds, the withholding or collection of tithes, offerings, or donations, and similar practices from teachers’ salaries. To reinforce this warning, the coordinators were required to sign a clause prohibiting them from engaging in such practices.

Christian BELLA