Kinshasa - Plateau: Raïssa Malu inaugurates a dozen schools, the fruit of a partnership between the Congolese government, Unicef and KOICA

It is in the municipality of N’sele, in the educational province of Kinshasa - Plateau, that Raïssa Malu, Minister of State and Minister of National Education and New Citizenship (EDU-NC), inaugurated ten schools on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, during a ceremony held on the grounds of E.P. Ndombe 2/Delina. These new buildings are the result of a partnership between the Congolese government, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), through its program aimed at improving access to and the quality of primary education.

In her remarks, Minister of State Raïssa Malu thanked KOICA and UNICEF for their technical and financial support. She noted that improving the quality of school infrastructure is part of her ministry’s 2024–2029 five-year plan and plays a significant role in the vision of the President of the Republic and Head of State, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, for the development of the DRC. The head of the EDU-NC sub-sector urged the students, who will benefit from these schools, to make good use of them.

“These buildings are yours. They are the fruit of the sacrifices and efforts of both the national and international communities. Take care of them. Cultivate a sense of responsibility and citizenship within yourselves. By preserving this heritage, you will honor not only those who made this possible, but also the future generations who will benefit from it,” she said, before reaffirming her ministry’s determination to upgrade the country’s school infrastructure.

“We aim to modernize not only our infrastructure but also our curricula, by leveraging digital technologies and strengthening teacher training. We aspire to an inclusive and innovative education system capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century, while promoting the values of citizenship and solidarity,” said Raïssa Malu.

Well before the Minister of State, South Korea’s Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jeong Hong Geun, highlighted the importance of investing in education for the DRC’s development, citing his country’s experience in the 1960s. He emphasized that: “The path to a better future lies primarily in the education of its people.”

For the record, the ten new schools handed over by the Minister of State, Minister of EDU-NC, have the capacity to accommodate 11,400 students and contribute significantly to the consolidation of free primary education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a vision of the Head of State. These schools include ten administrative buildings, two multipurpose halls, and eighty latrine stalls.

Among the dignitaries who attended the ceremony were the Provincial Minister of Education of Kinshasa, the KOICA coordinator, the Deputy Representative of UNICEF, and several officials from the Ministry of National Education and New Citizenship.

Christian BELLA