Here's what you need to know about "La grande Fête du préscolaire".

To learn more about this new initiative, “The Big Preschool Celebration,” we spoke with Michel Otto, coordinator of the non-governmental organization Agence pour la Promotion de l’Enseignement (APE). This education leader explains the new initiative, the rationale behind its creation, and its objectives. DGC: What do you mean by the “Great Preschool Celebration”? Michel OTTO: It’s a new concept launched last year. It’s simply a way to raise awareness about preschool education with the aim of increasing opportunities for children who haven’t had the chance to access preschool programs. Ultimately, it is a concept that helps all educational stakeholders realize that early childhood education is a field where quality must reign... It is an opportunity for us to communicate effectively enough to remind the authorities and the community that early childhood education exists and is very important. This festival is expected to bring together 1,000 people to draw the attention of decision-makers. DGC: What prompted you to develop this new concept? Michel OTTO: Let us recall here that our country is governed by laws. At the national level, we have the Constitution, and at the EPST level, there is the framework law and the subsectoral strategy. These three major elements at the national level were our motivation. Our country’s Constitution recognizes education as one of the fundamental rights of Congolese children. In the framework law, although the obligation of preschool is not explicitly stated, its importance is recognized. As for the strategy, it clearly outlines the rationale for preschool and calls for a high access rate in line with that. Today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a preschool access rate of 6%. This is a serious issue. Compounding this is an alarming situation: only 12% of preschool staff are qualified. All the more reason to change things. DGC: Can you provide a brief overview of the preschool situation in the DRC? Michel OTTO: We must acknowledge that there are currently more private schools than public ones. For example, the municipality of Kintambo had only two public preschools (two years ago), which is a serious problem requiring significant effort to improve. DGC: What observations led you to develop this concept? Michel OTTO: We started with the following observations: Low access rates; A lack of infrastructure; A low proportion of qualified teaching staff. For a better understanding, let’s think of our education system as a three-story building: elementary school, secondary school, and higher education. But the foundation is preschool. Our building has cracks, which is no secret to anyone. By “cracks,” we mean low levels of reading, writing, and math skills among elementary school students. As a hypothesis, this could be due to a poor foundation. Let us be clear that reading is a process, writing is a process, and calculating is also a process. This process begins with the fundamentals learned in preschool. Therefore, we must raise awareness among parents and the community, because many believe that anyone can teach in preschool, when in fact training is required, and that children do not go to preschool merely to sing, dance, and play without learning anything. DGC: What would you say to those who think that children go to preschool just to sing, dance, and play without learning anything? Michel OTTO: Preschool prepares children for life and for elementary school; it helps children develop stability. According to studies, it has been proven that when a child starts school at age 6 or 7, they lose certain skills that they will never be able to regain in their lifetime. Whereas a child who has attended preschool achieves good scores in reading, writing, and math. In short, a child who has attended preschool is stable in their home and professional life. So, not believing in preschool is ignorant, because in kindergarten, children learn a lot through singing, dancing, and playing. It is an appropriate way of learning. DGC: Can you tell us a little more about the second edition of the Great Preschool Festival? Michel OTTO: The second edition, with the theme “Preschool for Better Preparation for Life,” will take place on Saturday, August 12, 2023, at the SIFA School in Lemba (Lemba Fair), in the city of Kinshasa, starting at 9:00 a.m. This major event is aimed at educators in preschool and elementary schools, parents, decision-makers, authorities, and the community. Planned activities will include: panel discussions, contests, karaoke, dancing, workshops for sharing experiences, testimonials, and more. With the EPST authorities (the Minister, the Secretary General, and the Inspector General) already on our side, the Great Preschool Festival is a sure success before it even begins. Gaëlle BASUBI