Making free schooling permanent: national awareness-raisers trained on the policy of recruiting public elementary school teachers

More than 30 central trainers are participating in a capacity-building workshop to raise awareness and train members of the provincial and sub-provincial committees of the EPST (Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education) on the new recruitment policy for teachers and school principals, the steps involved in the process, and the tools used. Organized in Mitendi in the city-province of Kinshasa by the Human Resources Directorate (DRH) with support from the Project for Equity and Strengthening of the Education System (PERSE), this training took place from February 1 to 4, 2024, lasting four days. Following the training, the participants will be deployed to three targeted provinces—Kasaï-Central, Kinshasa, and Kongo Central—to in turn train the stakeholders involved in the implementation of this new recruitment policy. The objective of this new merit-based recruitment system is to contribute to the consolidation of free primary education by improving the quality of learning. According to the organizers, at least 1,620 provincial and sub-provincial stakeholders will be reached; and more than 834 provincial and sub-provincial stakeholders will be trained on this new recruitment system. It should be noted that this reform is being led by the DRH at the national level in collaboration with other departments such as the DAS and the DIFORE-BG. It places greater responsibility on subdivisions as steering bodies at the local level. Willy Kambulu