DRC: the arrival of Raïssa Malu in Tshikapa where the new school year and the PAAF project are expected to be officially launched

The Minister of State in charge of National Education and the new citizenship, Raïssa Malu, arrived this Saturday, August 31, in the town of Tshikapa, the capital of Kasaï, in anticipation of the official launch of the 2024-2025 school year, and the announcement official. of Girls Learning and Empowerment Project (PAAF). That project, financed by the World Bank, will be implemented in ten regions of the country, five of which are major regions.

After the airport, the minister went to the Kasai provincial government where a technical meeting with the deputy governor Bokele Djo Ley, members of the provincial government, officials of EPST, MESP and others, gave a view comprehensive on the challenges faced by local authorities in the education sector. Raïssa Malu promised to look into it by emphasizing the importance for each institution to submit proposals that will be analyzed and evaluated for permanent solutions.

Raïssa Malu also raised, in front of the governor and members of the department’s executive body, the question of the beginning of the school year in the context of the Mpox or monkeypox epidemic.

“The starting date has been kept but all cases must be taken into account from the moment the first symptoms appear the minister of health of the province.

In Tshikapa, Raïssa Malu will have the opportunity to visit a few schools to take inventory. This short visit will also provide an opportunity to assess the level of work that will be done within the framework of the PAAF.

Exclusively for the Kasai region, the project provides for the award of secondary school scholarships to girls in 7th and 8th grade (previously 1st and 2nd CO) as well as those in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th (3rd, 4th, 5th and earlier). 6th year humanities).

Part of the grant will be paid directly to the school to cover tuition fees and the rest will be paid to the young girl’s mother or guardian, without discrimination as to age or level, to combat domestic unemployment and early marriage, forced cohabitation, unwanted pregnancy.

The project also provides for the renovation of schools and the recruitment of 5,000 teachers at the secondary level over a period of 4 years.

In addition, after the Kasai phase, the Minister of State will travel to Kananga (Kasaï-central) and Mbuji-Mayi (Kasaï-Oriental) as part of the PAAF.

Prisca Lokale, in Tshikapa