Not a school without benches" campaign: Lubumbashi benefits from 1,500 desks as part of awareness-raising campaign

1. Having been in Lubumbashi, the capital of Haut-Katanga Province, since Thursday, June 22, 2023, the Minister of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, officially handed over 1,500 school desks in the Haut-Katanga 1 educational province on Friday, June 23, 2023.

This distribution of desks is part of the "No School Without Desks" campaign recently launched by the government to address one of the unintended consequences of the "free primary education" initiative, namely classroom overcrowding.

 "I am not here to distribute desks; that is not the role of a national minister. It is the awareness campaign (initiated by the President of the Republic) that is continuing. We are raising awareness among provincial authorities, as well as school administrators... because the issues of school infrastructure, management, school construction, rehabilitation, school maintenance, and equipping schools with benches and desks are the prerogative of the provinces," clarified the head of the sub-sector.

Earlier, the provincial director of Haut-Katanga1, Joseph Mwinkeu Tshiend, noted in his speech that he had manufactured 1,845 benches and repaired more than 2,500 this year alone, thanks to an increase in the operating budget allocated to schools.

Provincial Director Joseph Mwinkeu also mentioned 5,000 desks received from the provincial government for his jurisdiction.

“I would also like, in a very special way, to mention the remarkable support of His Excellency Governor Jacques Kyabula Katwe, who provided us with 5,000 school desks for this school year through the provincial Ministry of Education,” he added.

This earned congratulations from Minister Tony Mwaba Kazadi, who heaped praise on Governor Kabula Katwe as well as the director of the Haut-Katanga 1 educational province for their concrete commitment to education in general and, in particular, the flagship initiative of President Tshisekedi’s first five-year term: free primary education.

"We have said this before, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Governor Jacques Kyabula because he is among the governors who have embraced this initiative and who continue to provide schools in Haut-Katanga with desks," he stated.

It should also be noted that Professor Tony Mwaba will launch the regular session of the 2023 State Exam this Monday, June 26, in Mbuji-Mayi, Kasaï-Oriental Province.

Glodi Mboma