Ei-iE

Education unions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have joined forces to promote public education and counter the privatisation of the education sector. Under the banner of the Education International (EI) campaign Go Public! Fund Education, they aim to improve the quality of public education and the status of the teaching profession, expand access to free schooling, and raise awareness of the issues surrounding privatisation.

Research highlights the damaging effects of privatisation on the education system

Three of the DRC’s major education unions affiliated to Education International – CSC-Enseignement, FENECO-UNTC and SYECO – recently completed research funded by the CSQ, the trade union centre of Quebec.

Carried out by researcher Hervé Nlandu Mayamba, the study recommends a significant increase in the budget for public education to counter the growth of private schools, notes the state’s inability to meet the demand for education, and the decline in the quality of public sector schooling since the 1970s. It highlights the damaging impact of privatisation on the Congolese education system and puts forward recommendations for strengthening the public sector.

Recognising the urgent need to develop strategies to gradually reduce the level of privatised education in the country, the study recommends measures to improve the quality of state schools; significantly increase the share of the education budget, which represents less than 3% of GDP, falling short of the commitments undertaken; plan the development of public education provision, particularly in urban areas where demographic pressure is high, mainly due to the rural exodus; remove private schools that do not meet the minimum standards set out by law; and amend the legislation on national education to tighten up the conditions for opening private schools.

The unions also proposed including revenues from natural resources and contributions from the Congolese diaspora to fund education.

A national campaign to mobilise resources for public education

Using this study as a foundation, the Go Public! Fund Education campaign has been launched to raise awareness about the importance of funding public education.

The campaign is an urgent call to governments to invest in public education, a fundamental human right and a public good, and to invest more in teachers, the most important factor in achieving quality education. This means guaranteeing labour rights and ensuring good working conditions, as well as manageable workloads and competitive salaries for teachers and education workers. It also means valuing and respecting teachers, ensuring they are central to decision-making, and trusting their pedagogical expertise.

A workshop on public education funding for trade unionists was held from 11 to 14 December 2023 in Kinshasa. Its main aim was to build capacity for 24 trade union leaders (8 members per union). The subjects covered included planning in the education sector, education budgeting, free education, and the role of Education International.

The workshop focused on developing strategies to run the Go Public! Fund Education campaign effectively throughout the country, given the decentralised education system of the DRC. Since 2017, thanks to the support of EI, CSQ (Quebec) and STU (Sweden), the unions have been setting up study circles in 12 provinces of the DRC, involving more than 200 schools and over 2,000 education workers. The aim of these circles is to improve the quality of education and develop trade unionism. The activities include training, awareness-raising campaigns, and meetings with local authorities. These study circles are now being harnessed to anchor the campaign at the grassroots level.

The unions also organised radio and television broadcasts, as well as publishing press articles to reach a wide audience. Activities were carried out in the 24 communes of Kinshasa and in six other provinces.

Advocacy with members of the national Parliament

On 24 May 2024, a working lunch was held with around twenty elected members of the new Parliament to raise awareness of education issues and the importance of investing in education. The unions presented the results of the study on the privatisation of education and put forward proposals to improve living standards and working conditions for teachers.

The campaign aims to mobilise the resources needed to provide adequate funding for public education in the DRC by building the unions’ capacity to run effective campaigns and deepening their understanding of the issues linked to free education.