Itinerant Wednesday: Christine Nepa-Nepa and Odia Musungay satisfied with the resumption of classes in Kinshasa

Wednesday, September 13, 2023, was a long day for Christine Nepa-Nepa Kabala and Odia Musungay Kabeya, respectively Secretary General and Inspector General at the Ministry of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST). These two senior officials from the EPST were accompanied by the directors of the ministry’s central departments, including Waz Wanyi Mwanza Jean-Jeef, director of the EPST’s Communication Management Department. The delegation visited several schools in five educational provinces within the city-province of Kinshasa. Namely: Lukunga, Funa, Mont-Amba, Tshangu, and Plateau. Moving unexpectedly from one school to another, the inspection team led by the Secretary General and the Inspector General agreed, at the end of their tour, that the new school year had fully and effectively resumed in all the educational provinces visited that day. The schools visited included EPA Notre Dame (Lukunga), EP 7 Ngiri-Ngiri (Funa), the Limete Technical and Scientific High School (Mont-Amba), ITI N'djili (Tshangu), and the Béniyah and Sainte Catherine primary schools (Plateau). There is still room for improvement Joy was evident on the faces of every student in the classrooms of each of these schools visited by the education officials. The observation of an effective resumption of classes is coupled with that of large student populations noted in certain schools. This is particularly the case at the ITI in N’djili, where more than 1,300 students were present during the second week of the new school year. “We hope to welcome even more next week,” commented a school official present. The same observation holds true at the Sainte Catherine School Complex, an accredited private school in Kinshasa-Plateau, where the Provincial Chief Inspector (IPP) reported an average of 1,400 students in attendance between Monday, September 10, and Wednesday, September 12, 2023. “You have already demonstrated a willingness to help the Congolese government by establishing a school. With 27 classrooms, that’s already very good. Do more, particularly to reduce overcrowding in the classrooms,” urged Secretary General Christine Nepa-Nepa. Awareness Campaign Against Anti-Values During this tour, the Secretary General and the Inspector General also firmly reiterated certain instructions for combating anti-values in this sub-sector, a key priority for the head of the EPST, Minister Tony Mwaba Kazadi. In addition to classroom overcrowding, these school administrators emphasized discouraging officials at each of the visited schools from charging fees for the issuance of certification documents. It should be noted that this visit is part of the weekly inspections initiated every Wednesday by Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, National Minister of EPST, since the previous school year. As a reminder, Minister Tony Mwaba has designated this school year’s theme as “Improving the Quality of Education through Governance and Accountability.” Bruno Nsaka