Minister of State Raïssa Malu at the eLearning Africa 2025 conference: strengthened cooperation, educational innovation and equivalence issues

From May 7 to 9, 2025, the Minister of State and Minister of National Education and New Citizenship, Ms. Raïssa Malu, attended the 18th edition of the Pan-African eLearning Africa conference, held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This event, focused on educational technologies and digital training, brought together policymakers, experts, researchers, and partners from across Africa to discuss challenges related to human capital development on the continent. On the sidelines of the conference, the Minister of State participated in the 2025 Ministerial Roundtable, dedicated to the challenges and opportunities associated with adapting African education systems to digital requirements. This roundtable highlighted the priorities of the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy (2020–2030), particularly regarding the development of digital skills among young Africans, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into education systems, and the management of educational data. These themes focused on initiatives such as the Digital School model, which offers practical training to prepare young people for the digital job market, as well as on the importance of adapting African education systems to the challenges of AI and optimizing public policies through better data management. During her stay in Dar es Salaam, the Minister of State also organized several strategic meetings to strengthen existing partnerships. In particular, she met with the Digital School team to discuss the implementation of the system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, aiming to deploy the platform in 52 Congolese schools by the end of the project. This meeting helped clarify the next steps to ensure the effective deployment of the platform’s services and their adaptation to the specific needs of Congolese schools. Subsequently, Ms. Raïssa Malu met with a delegation of provincial directors and chief inspectors from the Haut-Katanga and Kasaï Oriental regions, who were also present at the event. A working session was organized to discuss the implementation of the conference’s recommendations and to ensure that they are communicated and applied consistently across the relevant provinces. This meeting also highlighted the importance of uniformly implementing ministerial guidelines at the provincial level to ensure harmonization of educational practices throughout the country. During her visit, the Minister of State also toured the “Projekt Inspire” Center, a science and technology center renowned for its interactive teaching methods, which is dedicated to promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) among young people. The center organizes hands-on workshops, live demonstrations, and mentoring sessions to stimulate students’ interest in these disciplines. Ms. Raïssa Malu expressed her admiration for the center’s initiatives and emphasized her intention to draw inspiration from these practices to enrich the DRC’s Science and Technology Week. She also encouraged the center to continue its efforts in this area.   Finally, the Minister of State met with the team from the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Tanzania. During this meeting, several strategic topics were discussed, notably the concerns expressed by Tanzanian authorities regarding the reform of the Congolese education system. Since the revision of the education system, which repositioned the secondary education cycle to four years and extended basic education to eight years, Tanzanian authorities no longer recognize the equivalence of the Congolese state diploma. This situation creates obstacles for Congolese students wishing to continue their studies in Tanzania. The Minister of State emphasized the need to address this issue promptly to prevent students from losing one or two years due to this lack of equivalence. The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss ways to strengthen academic cooperation between the two countries and harmonize diploma recognition procedures. In summary, the Minister of State’s participation in the 18th edition of eLearning Africa and the Ministerial Roundtable was a key moment for strengthening international partnerships and learning about the latest innovations in digital education and human capital development. The discussions highlighted the importance of adapting African education systems to new digital realities, while emphasizing the challenges related to artificial intelligence and data management. The Communications Unit of the Ministry of National Education and New Citizenship thus reiterates that the digital transformation of education is at the heart of the strategic priorities of the Ministry’s 2024–2029 Five-Year Plan, which aligns with the DRC’s regional and continental commitments. Moïse Dianyishayi