DRC: Back to school, an ordeal for displaced teachers and students

Teachers and students who fled armed conflicts, who teach and study in different schools in the camps are facing many difficulties. The government has not honored its promises to provide them with everything necessary for school activities to take place normally. They are asking the government to establish the necessary conditions to make education easier for the displaced. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Like other public schools located in the province of North Kivu, students and teachers who fled war in different parts have also continued their school activities in different camps, as part of the government’s plan to protect young people from idleness.

Those who fled the territories of Rutshuru and Masisi have started school activities in different camps for displaced persons.

Visiting the Uhamisho school complex located in the Mugunga district, which includes primary and secondary levels, we noted that all the students and teachers are displaced people from different parts of the Masisi territory.

This center has about 840 students, as specified by the administration of this camp built in the city of Goma, the provincial capital.

Once on the ground, the first thing that stands out is that this school does not meet the requirements as shown, among other things, by the lack of toilets and the absence of other infrastructure necessary for learners, very few benches, to the point that many students study sitting on stones or on the ground.

The management of this school claims that this situation is due to the lack of government support for educational centers for refugee children, as promised at the start of the school year.

“The government has forgotten us. We are in bad conditions at the moment. “Students are not learning very well due to lack of school supplies and many other things,” complains Pacifique Ntawugiruwe, the primary school principal at the Uhamisho complex.

This center has about 28 teachers.

Due to the large number of students, the teachers take turns in the morning and afternoon.

They indicate that until now, the government has not given them the basic salary, unlike others, because they are in a situation of displaced people, which makes some of them depressed and discouraged.

“We have no salary. We ask the government to support the good initiatives of the people who fled. This will lead us to offer good quality education to these children who have fled the war,” says Paul Gakuru, a teacher.

The students also note this lack of support to the displaced people which makes them unable to study well like other students in schools that meet the requirements.

Currently, in the city of Goma and in the territory of Nyiragongo, there are several schools that take in charge children who have fled conflicts and are thus welcoming a larger number of students than usual.

When the war broke out in the east of the country, 80% of teachers fled their villages and headed to the city of Goma, while others left for countries neighboring the DR Congo.

Since the reopening of schools, many teachers in public institutions have refused to return to school because the government has not yet implemented the agreement to increase their salaries.

In North Kivu, teachers have continued to adhere to the decision taken by the State shortly before the start of the school year.

The government has indeed committed to paying them a salary equivalent to $500 per month, after tough negotiations with representatives of teachers from across the country, from July 19 to 23 in Binwa in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.