Education
Education in Congo
Every people has its own forms of education shaped by the purposes of their society. "Western" education based in reading and writing was introduced in Sub-Saharan Africa with the coming of religions which follow sacred books (Islam in West Africa, Christianity in central and southern). In Congo, formal schools were begun mostly by Christian missionaries. Under Belgian regulations, primary schools were taught in local trade languages (one of which was Tshiluba, as shown below), secondary and higher in French. The goal was universal literacy, but there were few who managed to go beyond primary. Both the language differences and the relatively more limited number of secondary school have created a two-tiered educational and social system.
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Education is not free in Congo. Since 2020, primary schools no longer charge tuition, but there are significant expenses for uniforms and supplies and registering for the 6th grade exams. Secondary school still requires tuition, and in the final year students must pay to take the state exams. Since there is no standard accreditation for schools, the only recognized measure of an educated person is earning a state diploma.
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Secondary School has two parts. The first two years (lower secondary) are general, the following four years (upper) include vocational training of various kinds. However, the career education is only as good as the school, and often graduates cannot actually perform well enough to earn a living.
A Few Statistics
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97% of 10-year-olds are functionally illiterate
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78% of primary age children are enrolled, but only 75% of them finish 6th grade
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16.8% of females complete secondary
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33% of males complete secondary
Source: World Bank 2024
Gender is a significant factor in access to education, especially beyond the primary years. Many girls, particularly in rural areas, are illiterate and spend their lives in traditional tasks, such as carrying water and tending babies.
PART ONE: Schools
The story goes that a boy was walking along the beach, picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. A man pointed out that there were too many starfish for one person to make a difference and he would have to leave many stranded. The boy bent down to pick up another starfish; as he threw it into the sea, he said, "I made a difference for that one!"
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One child at a time, one girl, one boy at a time: We are making a difference!
CENEDI - UVIRA Starfish
MEET the STARFISH What began as an exchange of letters between Plainsboro, NJ, and Uvira, DRC, developed into a partnership. The students in the club Hands Across the Water were so moved by the plight of their Congolese friends that they expanded the scope from penpals to raising funds for CENEDI. Over a period of nearly a decade, ending in 2019, CENEDI registered 32 orphaned or extremely impoverished children into Pembas Academy, a well respected high school in Uvira. Under the supervision of Mr. Innocent Nunda Wa Nunda, these students were able to complete their education.
TRANSLATION:
Bahelanya Estambala Henry, Kaboke, April 11, 2015
Purpose: My sincere thanks
Bonjour!
I give all thanks to the Eternal, my God, for having given me this great opportunity to be able to communicate with you by this little letter. I am well and my family is well, and I hope you are, also. Glory be to God!
By this letter I would like to convey to you that I have been graduated (received my diploma) since 2011, and also I have and continue to benefit from other programs in computer science and English organized by CENEDI, and all of that with your assistance. I thank you and will always appreciate this.
At present I am working as an assistant teacher at the Pembas Institute in Munene, a school of the place where I studied.
I am very happy and proud of this change brought into my life.
As a result of what I have learned I hope also to be able to bring a little change in the development of my family, my community, my country, and the whole world.
My praise and thanks to CENEDI, to HAW, and to all those who contributed funds.
Grace, success, and blessing from the Most High be with you in all your actions.
Lots of love to all,
B. E. Henry
GRADUATES!
Thirty-two young men and women have graduated from secondary school with the assistance of Hands Across the Water, the school club at Community Middle School.
Most of them have begun self-supporting careers— read some empowerment and success stories.
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CENEDI - GOMA Community Charity School
In 2015 CENEDI opened Community Charity School in Goma. War had left many orphans wandering the streets. Bahininwa Saidia determined to give them a chance for education, and a chance for life, to avoid being swept up into the world of child soldier/ child prostitute.
CONTEXT: In 2013, the nation of Rwanda decided to flush out militia groups from the city of Goma by launching bombs across the river into the Congolese city of Goma. Hundreds of innocent Congolese were killed, expanding the ranks of Goma’s orphans. The elementary school in Goma was severely damaged and did not reopen. War is routine in this region, and survivors return to the city to bury the dead and rebuild their lives, but schools do not recreate themselves.
Hands Across the Water, in partnership with CENEDI, opened the Community Charity School (named for Community Middle School) on September 7, 2015. CCS is a tuition-free school for destitute children in the city of Goma. Over 90% of them are orphaned. Each year the sixth grade class successfully graduates every member. At present CCS operates in a rented building, but land has been bought for an eventual school building.
GREAT STAFF: The success of CCS must be credited to the dedication of its Principal, Shabani Mulamba Jacques, and the dedicated instructions staff, who provide a safe nurturing environment in the midst of violence and chaos. The teachers have been willing to work without compensation when funds were not available, and have taken voluntary pay cuts to allow CCS to keep its doors open. They have persevered, despite armed militia groups roaming the area and malaria ravaging the student population, serving students who often show up to school in rags, and feeding them when they have not eaten for days. The dedicated teachers struggle with very few supplies but with a solid belief that education can positively affect the lives of these children. CENEDI has no external financial support other than that which comes from generous contributions through Hands Across the Water. We honor every one of these wonderful resilient educators and thank them for being the heart of CCS.
Images of CCS and Its Amazing Students
FEBA—KINSHASA
FEBA’s work is similar to but also different from CENEDI’s because its school population includes not only primary and secondary students but also young women who have never had the opportunity to learn to read and write and are counted too old to enroll in formal schools.
Literacy and Basic French
Even girls who attended some primary classes, all of which are taught in the vernacular, may still be semi-literate, and they will not know any French, the language of secondary school, higher education, business and government.
The majority of the literacy students are registered in vocational programs. However, FEBA also enrolls some young women who come only for the training in literacy and basic French.
Students in School
For girls and boys who are enrolled in schools, FEBA helps the children of its many members as far as its limited funds allow, usually two per family in order to spread the assistance. It provides uniforms and school supplies for primary students and secondary students; in 2024 there were 170! It also assists 12-18 secondary students with their final year expenses to earn their state diplomas.
Uniforms, State Exams,
FEBA opens doors!
HOW YOU CAN HELP
$25 school supplies for CCS children
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$50 graduation fees for 5 sixth-graders​
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$75 materials for sewing school for 1 week
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$100 manual sewing machine for graduate
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$150 salary for CENEDI administrator for 2 months
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$200 state exam fees for 4 secondary students
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$325 full scholarship for 1 sewing student
Uniforms,
School rent, State exams,
Salaries, Paper, etc.
Number/ Year 2024
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~120 primary students in CCS needing paper and supplies
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~18 sixth-grade exams
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~170 students receiving uniforms and supplies from FEBA
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~18 secondary school exams
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~50 sewing students needing supplies
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~16 sewing machines for graduates
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~40 other vocational students needing supplies
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~40 teachers' salaries
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PART TWO:
Career Training and Financial Literacy
THE NEED: One of the biggest challenges for poor urban young people is finding a way to support themselves honestly. Rural youth can work their family farms for food but have little or no access to education and healthcare. City youth may starve if they cannot find jobs or create small businesses. Most paying jobs require formal education but learning a trade is the best basis for a small business. Salaried jobs are limited and they almost always go to men. Girls and women, many of whom are either the sole breadwinners for their families or major contributors, need ways to learn the skills to establish and maintain small businesses.
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GOALS AND MEANS: FEBA has two key goals: teaching young women a trade by which they can earn a decent living, and assisting older women in creating and/or managing the various forms of self-support. The vocational programs are intended for full-time students; the "continuing education" programs are provided when there are particular situations which make those appropriate, such as the availability of microloans.
Among the most important occasional workshops are those dealing with financial literacy. Financial management and budgeting are foreign concepts to those who barely survive in a money economy. One of FEBA's roles is to teach all of its members and students, especially those who receive microloans, how to think strategically and manage their very limited resources wisely.
NOTES ON THE CONTEXT: Kinshasa is a city of 10-15 million and traffic is terrible. Those whom FEBA accepts as students are the poorest. The vocational programs are practically free: students pay about $5/month, which usually is used to feed them. Many of the young girls have trouble paying their transportation costs, by bus or the popular motor bike taxis. Some do not even have regular meals, so FEBA assists with bus fare and a meal for the students who otherwise would not eat at all. The logistics of the enormous city affect everyone. Often participants attending workshop also require assistance with transport, and when staff need to do a simple errand such as buying cloth for the sewing class, they may spend half the day sitting in traffic.
FEBA - KINSHASA
FEBA currently has vocational training programs in the following areas: Sewing, Cosmetology, and Computer science. The hope is eventually to add Hospitality-Culinary Skills. All departments enroll destitute young women from the local community. The sewing and cosmetology schools accept young women who are also illiterate or semi-literate. The computer science school, on the other hand, targets young women who were able to complete some or all of their secondary education, but are unable to find skilled jobs due to the high unemployment that exists in Kinshasa.​
FEBA's students in the career-trade programs receive top-quality training. Vocational classes in secondary school are often very superficial, so even those with more formal education but no means to support themselves are happy to enroll in FEBA's schools. The sewing school has provided a successful model for the newer vocational training programs. In 2023-24 two more tracks have been added: computer science and cosmetology.​
Sewing
​WHY SEWING? Tailoring is a good career in Congo, where there are virtually no factories to produce ready-made clothing. A person who is trained to cut and sew garments, and who owns a hand-turned or treadle sewing machine, can earn a respectable living for herself and her family.
STARTING THIS PROGRAM Women in the community asked Maman Monique to start a sewing school. It was located in her home for seven years, until the new Women’s Center was built; now the school owns about 30+ machines (depending the state of repair) and provides classes for up to 50 young women.
WHAT IS THE COURSE? Students learn the basics of sewing by hand, then master the use of a manual or treadle sewing machine and designing clothing. They begin by making baby clothes with guidance, and gradually add more complex designs. The course should take about 6 months for those who have attended secondary school, 9 for those who have had a good primary education, and 12 months for those who have not been to school. After the basic training, each student has a 2-month internship, during which she creates 12 items by herself.
WHAT ABOUT CERTIFICATION? Students take state exams - 7 days! - which test general education as well as professional training. The final test is to make a garment from a picture. Each student pulls a number out of a hat. The number corresponds to a picture. There are no patterns; a tailor measures, cuts, and sews to suit her client. FEBA's students are so talented that members of the jury have taken to requiring the candidates to use their measurements so that the jury can walk off with new clothes...!
Traditionally students throw flour in their hair to celebrate graduation!
GRADUATION AND TOOLS FOR THE CAREER! Finally graduation, with state certificates and new sewing machines presented by American partners. Husbands and families are usually very proud of the young women's successes because they have achieved a significant level of education (the national board exams are highly regarded) and the new tailors can contribute well to the family's income. FEBA usually graduates about 12-17 young women each year. Since 2010 there have been 120!
Lending a Hand to Other Schools
FEBA's sewing school is highly respected. Other sewing centers sometimes send their students to FEBA for internships, or request advice. At times FEBA has been asked to help women in other places organize or improve their sewing programs. Maman Beki, one of the teachers at a sewing school near the city of Kananga (Kasai region), came to FEBA for three weeks of continuing education in 2016, and the following year Maman Monique and Maman Jeannette visited Kananga to do a workshop for Maman Beki and her two fellow teachers. Maman Monique has also been called upon to help Club Rafiki in Goma.
Cosmetology
WHY COSMETOLOGY? Self-presentation is very important in Congolese culture. Beauty includes adornment as well as dress, and thus the ability to enable others to look attractive and stylish is an excellent career track for a young woman who has never had the advantages of completing her schooling; it enables her to support herself and her family with dignity.
WHAT IS COSMETOLOGY? In Congo cosmetology includes a rather wide range of beautification arts. Naturally key areas of concentration are hair, cosmetics, and nails, but training in aesthetics with regard to what might be called event planning also plays a part. The graduates will be able to earn a living doing all kinds of hair care and treatments and face and nail care, but they will also have other marketable skills, such as knowing how to decorate a venue for a special occasion, or how to make up women (or men) for special ceremonies, from weddings to public appearances.
Computer Science
​WHY COMPUTERS? That may seem a strange question; computers are IT. But in Congo computer skills play a different role. Not only do very few people own computers; most people do not know how to use one. Congo has gone from handwriting to computers, mostly skipping typewriters. Even most secondary school students still produce their work longhand on paper. However, government forms, business letters, and other official documents are now commonly typed and printed, so computer skills serve secretarial as well as professional roles for those who can achieve this cutting edge technology.
COURSE: The first step of this year-long course is learning to type, to use a keyboard and compose texts on it. Students must also learn how to care for their equipment; protecting machines from the dust or excessive heat which Congolese take for granted requires a shift in mental organization. Students also begin to learn how to format and arrange common texts such as personal or business letters, how to complete government forms, etc. They will gradually build up from simple word-processing to more complex systems such as excel, photo shop, and the rest of the Microsoft Office 365 program. (In time a second unit may be added to include web development, Java script, Python, data science, etc., but that is still in the future.)
​The program prepares graduates for work such as handling cashier or billing tasks, secretarial or administrative work, or other kinds of digital tasks. The graduates may find employment in local businesses or may start informal businesses on their own to provide typing and computer services to the general public, many of whom would have no access to computers or printers.​​
Financial Literacy
Most women in Congo, especially poor ones, have no training in budgets or money management. They must learn to distinguish between needs and desires. More challenging is struggling with too many needs and developing the self-discipline to save money to continue their small businesses even if they and their families are hungry. How can a woman weigh the future need to replenish supplies or stock against the need to feed her children now?
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One of FEBA's responses is to provide financial workshops. Most are small, giving the women helpful pointers and encouragement to continue, but sometimes a major financial training will be organized, as in January 2024 when FEBA received a grant for 100 microloans plus a full day-long workshop taught by experienced financial experts. All the women who received grants were required to attend, but any others who wished to learn were welcomed.
