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ENTRAIDE (MUTUAL AID)
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[email protected]
EXAMINING BARRIERS TO ACCESSING EDUCATION IN THE
SECTOR OF GANAKETI, BANDUNDU, DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
A Study of the Association for the Development of Matari (ADEMA)
and Entraide (Mutual Aid)
By Professor Bruno Lapika Dimomfu
Director of the Centre for the Coordination of Social Science Research and Documentation in
Africa South of the Sahara (CERDAS)
With collaboration of Felix Kupay
Chair of Entraide- Mutual Aid
June 2013
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Registered Charity in England and Wales. Charity No. 1142919.
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CONTENTS
CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... 2
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES ET PHOTOGRAPHS ................................................... 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. 4
SUMMARY....................................................................................................................... 5
ABSTRACT IN FRENCH .............................................................................................. 6
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ......... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
INTRODUCTION .......................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
0.1. Objectives of the study................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
0.2. Methodological approach to research ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
0.2.1. Desk study and literature review ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
0.2.2. Field surveys and data collection ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
0.3. Scope and limitations of the study ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
0.4. Subdivision of the study ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER I: GENERAL CONTEXT OF THE STUDY ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
DEFINED.
1.1. General situation of the Democratic Republic of Congo .............Error! Bookmark not
defined.
1.2. Organisation of the education system in the DRC ........ Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.3. Challenges and Constraints of the Education System in the DRC ..... Error! Bookmark
not defined.
1.4. Current educational policies and strategies in the DRC Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER II: ACCESS TO EDUCATION IN THE SECTOR OF GANAKETIERROR!
BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
2.1. Presentation of the Sector of Ganaketi ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.2. The characteristics of education provision in Ganaketi. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.2.1. School infrastructures and learning materials in Ganaketi ....Error! Bookmark not
defined.
2.2.2. Human Resources in the education sector of Ganaketi ........Error! Bookmark not
defined.
2.3. Access to education in the Sector of Ganaketi.............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.4. Barriers to accessing education in Ganaketi .................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER III: IMPROVING ACCESS TO EDUCATION & REDUCING SCHOOL
DROPOUT IN GANAKETI ........................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
3.1. Reducing school fees (“frais de fonctionnement”) and abolishing parental contribution
for teachers’ salaries (“prime de motivation”).......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.2. Improving people’s income prospects and living conditions........Error! Bookmark not
defined.
3.3. Improving the quality of education in the area ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4. The involvement of parents and community leaders in the management of schools
Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.5. Fighting against religious and sexual discrimination in education .Error! Bookmark not
defined.
3.6. The involvement of NGOs in the provision of education ...........Error! Bookmark not
defined.
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CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADEMA AND ENTRAIDEERROR!
BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
REFERENCES ................................................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
APPENDIX 1 LIST OF PEOPLE INTERVIEWED ........ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
DEFINED.
APPENDIX 2 : LIST OF SCHOOLS SURVEYED ........... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
DEFINED.
3
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES ET PHOTOGRAPHS
Tables
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Table 6
Table 7:
Table 8
Table 9
Table 10
Table 11
Table 12
Table 13
Table 14
Distribution of respondents by chiefdom
Structure of the Education System in DRC
Population of Ganaketi by Chiefdom
Condition of infrastructure in the 32 schools surveyed by Adema/Entraide
Distribution of teachers by gender and qualification
School-age children (6-17 years-olds) according to their area residence in the Bandundu Province
6-17 years-old children outside of the education System according to their area residence old in the
Bandundu Province
Education Status of school age children in the 9 chiefdoms
Surveyed by Adema/ Entraide
School dropout rates in primary education during the School Year 2011-2012 in schools of Ganaketi
surveyed
School dropout rates in secondary education during the School Year 2011-2012 in schools of Ganaketi
surveyed
Profile of children outside of the education system in the DRC
Hierarchy of causes of school dropout in Ganaketi
Hierarchy of causes of school dropout in Ganaketi following statistical modeling
Summary of barriers to education in Ganaketi and possible remedies
Figures
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
The Sector of Ganaketi in the DRC
Provision of textbooks and equipments to schools of the Bandundu Province
School dropout rates in primary education during the School Year 2011-2012 by gender and school
management regime
Profile of school-age children compared to their parents’ level of education
Educational status of pupils in Bandundu Province and DRC
School attendance (week of absences in school) in the Bandundu Province according to the area of
residence of the pupils
Photographs
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
Photos 6
Photos7
Photo 8
Photo 9
External view of a Secondary school (Kakoma Institute) in the village of Kitaka
External view of a Primary school (Kifilu Mbunda Primary School) Kitaka
External view of a primary school classroom building in Ganaketi
Head teacher’s office (Luwembi Primary School)
Inside of 4th grade classroom (Kifilu Mbunda primary School)
Children during a lesson in a school of Ganaketi
Roads conditions in the sector of Ganaketi
Crossing of the river Inzia by Adema/Entraide’s team in September 2012
Parents meeting in a village of Ganaketi
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report is the product of a series of contacts and meetings with several key informants. It
would be a mammoth task to name all the people who have contributed to this work. However,
we would like to express our profound gratitude to ADEMA’s and ENTRAIDE’s staff and
members for entrusted us with the task of carrying out this research. We would like particularly to
thank Cerdas research assistants Joseph Musiki Kupenza, Gérard Mbengo Mayeko, Rigobert
Mbima Kutwela, Dunia Mushabah Martin as well as Adema’s local community workers Stéphane
Kitoko et Muyansi Lungianiku for organising the data collection and logistics of this research.
We would also like to express our gratitude to Miss Perpetue Madungu and Mrs Jacky Kabwe
from the National Institute of Statistics for providing us with data for the Bandundu Province
from a recent study on children and adolescents outside of the education in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Finally, we would like to thank all the people of Ganaketi: political and administrative authorities,
community leaders, teachers and head teachers, parents and pupils who have responded to our
questionnaires, been interviewed or taken part in focus groups organised across the sector and
whose information and other contributions have helped shed a light into barriers to accessing
education in the area as well as potential strategies in order to improve the situation.
This report has been commissioned by Entraide
(Mutual Aid) and Adema with funding from
Comic Relief/Common Ground Initiative.
However, the analyses contained in this
document are those of the authors of the report
and do not necessarily reflect Entraide, Adema’s
or Comic Relief’s views.
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SUMMARY
This study examines barriers to accessing education and the causes of school dropout in the
sector Ganaketi, in the Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has been
commissioned by the Association for the Development of Matari (Adema) and Entraide (Mutual
Aid) with funding from Comic Relief (Common Ground Initiative). It was carried out by a team
from the Centre for the Coordination of Social Science Research and Documentation in Africa
South of the Sahara of the University of Kinshasa (CERDAS) supervised by its director,
professor Bruno Lapika and Felix Kupay (Chair of Entraide/ Mutual Aid).
It contains data collected from September to December 2012 in schools, from households, pupils,
and teachers, political and administrative authorities in the chiefdoms that comprise the sector
Ganaketi and proposes some strategies in order to widen participation in education, reduce school
dropout as well as improve the quality of education for children throughout the area.
The study has found that access to primary and secondary education remains a major challenge
for many school age children in Ganaketi, especially girls and children from poor background. In
fact, approximately 37% of school age children in the area are marginalised in education, i.e. they
either do not enrol or drop out of school before completing their primary education.
Furthermore, the quality of education keeps deteriorating and learning outcomes dropping year
after year.
There are several factors that contribute to keeping children outside of the education system in
the area, but the most important is the extreme poverty which manifests itself in low household
incomes and means that many parents in the area can’t afford to send all their children to school.
Other factors include the marginalisation of girls compounded by high level of illiteracy among
parents and a lack of awareness of the need or benefits of educating girls as well as the
harassment of girls who are in education by their male counterparts and teachers; geographical
inaccessibility i.e. long distance between the family home and the nearest schools, the exploitation
of children by teachers; the status of orphan and disabled child; the low level of public
expenditures allocated to the education sector and the mis-management of schools’ financial
resources.
The education system in the area is also characterised by a dearth of qualified personnel, learning
materials and decent infrastructure as well as low morale in the teaching force all of which have a
negative impact on the quality of education and learning outcomes.
The study recommends several strategies in order to increase enrolment, retention and attainment
rates in Ganaketi including reducing the costs to parents of educating children by reducing school
fees and abolishing parents’ contribution to teachers’ pay; improving people’s income prospects in
the area so that parents have the income to meet the costs of educating their children; improving
the quality of education in the area through the improvement of education infrastructure and inservice training for teachers; involving parents and community leaders in the management of
schools; fighting against religious and sexual discrimination; involving NGOs in the provision of
alternative forms of education for those who have dropped out or are excluded from the
education system such as orphans and disabled children.
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ABSTRACT IN FRENCH
La présente étude porte sur les barrières d’accès à l’éducation et la déperdition scolaire dans le
Secteur de Ganaketi. Elle contient les données colletées dans les écoles, les ménages, les ONG et
auprès des autorités politico-administratives des 18 groupements que comprend le Secteur de
Ganaketi. L’étude propose quelques stratégies en vue de lutter contre la déperdition scolaire et
améliorer le niveau général de scolarisation et la qualité de l’éducation des enfants dans l’ensemble
du Secteur.
Il ressort de cette étude que l’éducation connaît de sérieux problèmes à tous les niveaux dans le
Secteur de Ganaketi. On y observe la persistance d’une proportion importante d’enfants non
scolarisés, dont la vaste majorité est constituée des filles. En effet, environ 37% d’enfants du
secteur n’ont pas du tout accès à l’éducation ou abandonnent l’école avant de terminer leurs
études.
Les causes de cette situation sont multiples dont la plus saillante est l’extrême pauvreté traduite
par le bas niveau des revenus des ménages qui contraint les parents à ne pas envoyer les enfants à
l’école ou à en envoyer que quelques uns pendant que les autres restent à la maison. Et dans ce
processus, les filles sont généralement les plus négligées au profit des garçons.
A celle-ci s’ajoute le manque criant d’un personnel qualifié, de matériels didactiques et
d’infrastructures décentes, ce qui a une incidence négative sur la qualité de l’éducation dans le
secteur.
L’étude recommande plusieurs stratégies en vue d’accroitre l‘accès à l’éducation et la rétention
scolaire ainsi qu’améliorer la qualité de l’enseignement dans le secteur. Il s’agit notamment de la
création des activités génératrices de revenus en vue de réduire la pauvreté des ménages,
l’aménagement des routes de desserte agricole et des ponts en vue de faciliter l’évacuation des
produits agricoles, l’école primaire gratuite, c’est-a-dire la suppression des frais scolaires et de la
prise en charge des enseignants par les parents, la formation du corps enseignant pour améliorer la
qualité de l’enseignement, la construction des écoles pour offrir des infrastructures viables et
stimuler la rétention scolaire des enfants, l’implication des parents, des chefs coutumiers et des
ONG dans la gestion en vue de garantir la bonne gouvernance des établissements scolaires, la
lutte contre la discrimination sexuelle dans l’accès à l’éducation, etc.
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