Christine Nepa Nepa asks the governor of Kasaï-Central to prohibit the collection of 5000 FC per pupil to preserve the gains of free education

In a letter dated February 10, 2023, Ms. Christine Nepa Nepa Kabala, Secretary General for Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Christine Nepa Nepa Kabala, asked the governor of Kasaï-Central, John Kabeya, to personally intervene to ensure that his decree of February 8, 2023, is not enforced. The decree requires every primary and secondary student in public and private schools to pay 5,000 FC per quarter for the province’s development.    For the head of the EPST administration, this measure undermines efforts to ensure free primary education in the DRC, a constitutional provision implemented by the President of the Republic, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.   “This undermines all the considerable efforts being made by the Head of State, His Excellency the President of the Republic, to alleviate, as much as possible, the burden on households regarding their children’s education,” the letter states.   Christine Nepa Nepa noted that the fees requested in the decree issued by the Governor of Kasaï-Central are not included in Circular No. MINEPST/CABMIN/1357/2022, dated July 25, 2022, regarding tuition fees for the 2022–2023 school year, which was sent to her by the National Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi. Hence, her call for the non-application of this decree. “I kindly ask you to personally intervene to prohibit the collection of these fees contained in your aforementioned decree,” she wrote.   In addition, the Secretary General of the EPST urges all school principals who have already collected these fees to “return them immediately and unconditionally to the parents concerned.”   She further recommends that the Provincial Directors and Chief Provincial Inspectors of Kasaï-Central ensure compliance with this prohibition and report back within a reasonable timeframe. Nodriche Kasai