Kinshasa, December 8th of 2021 President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, and his Minister of Education, have both cooperated on developing a new “revolutionary” education reform that is supposed to provide the DRC with important measures for the future. These developments, which are indicated to be promising for the future of the Congolese nation, include a few key measures, such as:

• A US$10 bn expenditure, set to be spent over 15 years, in the education budget of the DRC, set for these new projects:
• 2,000 new schools with 500 student capacity for the majority of these new buildings.
• An increase in pay for teachers nation-wide, with merit and tenure raises yearly.
• A new national adult education program for literacy, with national certificates of literacy and outreach programs for newly-literate adults to find new jobs.
• New sexual education programs for males and females.
• New anti-drug programs for males and females.

President Félix has delved deeper into each of these new proposals with his Minister and has published new documents to provide the nation with a deeper understanding of the proposals and what exactly this education reform is composed of.

The US$10 bn dollar expenditure will be composed of a gradual expenditure of ~US$670 Mn per year from 2022 to 2037 and will be used to build new schools all over the DRC, including in Eastern Congo, and expand our national education infrastructure for new teachers, new aides, new staff and renovations to the current schools in the DRC.

The new pay for teachers will be based on analyzing and setting up a few parameters, including teacher tenure and merit; there will be an increase on the base pay of teachers and gradual salary increases based on the aforementioned parameters. Hopefully, the pay increase will encourage more teachers and subsequently, bring an influx of professionals for our 2,000 new schools all over the DRC.

The adult education program will exist all over the nation, with mobile stations providing aid and counsel to adults interested in the program; where possible, we will interact with local NGOs and make their participation useful, by getting volunteering staff to go to isolated local areas and teach.

In Eastern Congo especially, we will be using NGOs and volunteer programs to make our adult literacy rate increase, and we will be using it as a tool to educate former insurgent members and provide them a respectable role in Congolese society.

Women and men alike will be taught new programs; the DRC government will invite No Means No Worldwide to participate in a national awareness campaign to prevent rapes and provide the citizens of the DRC with a capable education. NMNW will use their model on the DRC and the Tshisekedi government will provide full support under its umbrella education reform.

Red Ribbon will also be contacted and asked to provide volunteers so that we can provide useful treatment and information awareness to the population of the DRC; teams of specialists will be requested to provide research and statistical data of European models for drug treatment and combatting drugs; opening the possibility of further drug policies in the future.

Finally, sex education programs will be widespread and be officially put into the school curriculum; the Congolese government will begin conversations with Planned Parenthood and the WHO to produce an effective education program that can educate the Congolese population and provide the DRC with a well-educated population that comprehends the consequences of parenthood and are aptly prepared for it.