Kasai: PAAF plans to award scholarships to encourage girls to go to school

The Ministry of National Education and New Citizenship is working to provide scholarships for all girls in secondary school in the province of Kasaï. The process has just been launched to fulfill this commitment by the Congolese government. These scholarships will be awarded as part of the implementation of the Girls’ Learning and Empowerment Project (PAAF), a Congolese government initiative funded by the World Bank. This scholarship program, specifically for girls, was presented to stakeholders on Tuesday, June 25, in Tshikapa, in the province of Kasaï. This province has the lowest enrollment rate for girls at the secondary level. According to Hilaire Yogo Beyogode, Director of the Department of Life Skills Education, the goal is to improve access to and equity in education, particularly for girls at the secondary level, and to improve teaching and learning conditions in secondary schools in the provinces targeted by the project. To increase women’s participation in education, he continues, the project plans to recruit 5,000 female teachers at the secondary level over a four-year period. According to Chantal Faïda, a specialist in scholarships and girls’ participation, the PAAF supports girls attending public schools. A portion of the scholarship will be paid directly to the school to cover tuition fees, and the remainder will be paid to the girl’s mother or guardian. This is done without discrimination based on age or grade level, to combat unemployment in households and other social ills, such as early marriage, forced cohabitation, and unwanted pregnancy, among others. A social registry has been established in some districts of this province, and scholarships will be awarded only to girls from the poorest households. In districts where the social registry has not yet been established, scholarships will be awarded to all secondary school girls. It should be noted that the scholarships are for girls in 7th and 8th grades (formerly 1st and 2nd C.O.) as well as those in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades (formerly 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades of secondary school). Willy Kambulu