Confronted by Tony Mwaba, the provincial Minister of Education and the caucus of elected representatives from North Kivu plead for EXETAT participation fees to be covered.

With just a few weeks to go before the certification exams are held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the National Minister of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, met on Monday, April 15, 2024, with the Provincial Minister of Education of North Kivu and the caucus of national deputies from that province to discuss the Government of the Republic’s coverage of the fees for participating in the 2024 State Exam. The goal is to ease the burden on parents who face daily insecurity caused by Rwanda and its M23 rebels.

Sent by the Military Governor of North Kivu, Major General Pierre Cirimwami Kuba, the Provincial Minister of Education, Prisca Luanda Kamala, and the national deputies comprising the delegation, appealed to the National Minister of Basic and Secondary Education to exempt graduating students from this part of the country from the fees required to take the various State Exam tests. Professor Tony Mwaba listened attentively to their appeal and promised to follow up on this matter.

"As you know, our province of North Kivu is under a state of siege. And we are at war. Parents have approached His Excellency the Governor to request that the central government cover the costs of participating in the State Exam. So the appeal was made. His Excellency the Minister of EPST reassured us; moreover, during the Cabinet meeting, the Head of State, His Excellency Mr. Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, took this matter to heart. He promised that the matter will be addressed," said the Provincial Minister of Education.

This promise was well received by the delegation, which will also forward the meeting’s resolutions to the Governor of North Kivu to reassure parents in that province who were at a loss as to what to do.

The out-of-session exams for the State Examination are already set to begin on May 6, 2024, and the provincial minister and the caucus of national deputies hope for a solution as soon as possible.

Christian BELLA