SSEF 2016-2025: Education sector experts hold preparatory workshop for joint review in 2024

In preparation for next year’s joint review, experts from four education and training subsectors have been meeting in workshops since Tuesday, December 5. The objectives of these workshops are: to consolidate the Operational Action Plan (OAP) for the subsectors; to develop an action plan for implementing the recommendations of the mid-term review; and to reformulate recommendations for the success of cross-cutting reforms and the transformation of the DRC’s education system. These workshops are being held at various locations. At the Silikin Village site, participants worked on the operational action plan of the Ministry of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST). Michel Lumengo, Director-Head of the Department of Studies and Planning (DEP), noted that participants discussed the measures to be implemented in fiscal year 2024 and the recommendations not carried out in 2022. “...We also needed to evaluate the recommendations from the 2022 joint mid-term review. We had a total of 29 recommendations that the ministry was required to implement. The ministry carried out some of them. That is why we needed to evaluate them—to identify weaknesses and plan for the future, seeking the means to ensure that all actions arising from the recommendations are implemented in the 2024 fiscal year,” he explained. At the CREC site, the various invited stakeholders worked on the Operational Action Plan (OAP) for literacy and non-formal education, known by the acronym AENF. The Director General of this educational body, Mr. Albert Lubanzadio, presented both his operational action plan and the plan for implementing the recommendations received during the mid-term review. At the UNESCO site, the focus was on the OAP of the Ministry of Higher and University Education. These workshops will conclude on Wednesday, December 6, with the various recommendations set to be implemented. As a reminder, the education sector in the DRC comprises the Ministries of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Higher and University Education (ESU), Vocational and Technical Training, as well as Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action, and National Solidarity. Kinanga Alain, Mangitukwa Ouriel, and Jirel Kitoko