"3/4 of the teachers are in the territories and benefit from bush bonuses and free tuition in addition to their salaries" (Minister T. Mwaba )

Three-quarters of Congolese teachers are stationed in various districts across the provinces and receive several allowances, including the bush allowance and the free education allowance. Minister Tony Mwaba, who highlighted this last Thursday during an appearance at a local radio station, also noted the change in teachers’ salaries between the period before and after the implementation of free education. Specifically, 168,000 Congolese francs before the introduction of free education, with an exchange rate ranging from 920 FC to 1,200 FC per U.S. dollar, and more than 410,000 FC after the introduction of free education, with a rate ranging from 1,600 to 2,700 FC per dollar. “As we can see, for some time now, the salary situation for teachers in general—and those in the territories in particular—has been improving despite the disruptive exchange rate fluctuations, but efforts are being made to improve teachers’ living conditions. The issue of exchange rate fluctuations impacts teachers’ salaries and disrupts social and economic conditions, but efforts are being made to address this,” he explained. When asked about the standardization of salaries, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education reassured that the salary is the same for all teachers in the DRC. “The difference compared to those in cities lies solely in the allowances for rent and transportation, which are factored into the salary calculation. But the base amount remains the same,” he added. To further demonstrate the ministry’s efforts to improve the lives of its teaching staff, the supervisory authority also noted that primary school teachers are entitled to send two children to secondary school free of charge. This measure, agreed upon by the government and the EPST union, was intended to put primary school teachers on the same footing as their secondary school colleagues, since primary school is already free. Thierry Mbebangu