The average teacher's salary is currently 408,333 FC. Here's how to calculate it
From 155,130 Congolese francs to nearly 280,689 FC, the minimum wage for Congolese teachers has increased significantly since the implementation of free education in 2019.
Addressing Parliament in session on Tuesday, November 15, President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo stated that the average salary of a Congolese teacher currently stands at 408,333 Congolese francs.
This was followed by an outcry of questions regarding the veracity of his claims.
Meanwhile, many internet users have jumped into a debate about the minimum income for a teacher, which should not be confused with the average salary.
In fact, the minimum wage is the lowest salary on the teachers’ pay scale.
It currently stands at 268,079 FC for teachers in general, compared to 155,130 before free education was implemented.
Returning to the average salary, it is calculated by adding up all the salaries on the teachers’ pay scale. Then, the total sum is divided by the number of teachers on the pay scale.
For illustrative purposes, let’s take the pay scale as shown in this table:
A: 268,000 CDF;
B: 351,000 CDF;
C: 398,000 CDF;
D: 411,000 CDF;
E: 481,000 CDF;
F: 541,000 CDF;
1. The total sum of all these salaries is: 4,700,000 CDF.
2. Divide the total sum by the number of teachers to obtain the average salary.
This will be: 2,450,000 CDF
3. We divide this amount by 6 teachers (see salary scale in the table) = 408,333 CDF (average salary of a teacher today).
It should be noted that not all teachers receive the same salary. Teachers’ salaries vary by geographic region and level of education.
If we look closely at this table, we see that the minimum salary for a secondary school teacher is 268,079 FC, while it is 398,000 for a primary school teacher.
As a reminder, the salary of 155,130 FC was worth less than $100 at the time, as the dollar was trading at 1,600 Congolese francs per U.S. dollar.
However, 268,079 FC is worth more than $100 at the current budget rate of 2,550 FC per U.S. dollar.
Marie-France Pala
