By Zoe Alford
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is undergoing a major humanitarian crisis, that is severely impacting education and human rights. Due to the ongoing conflict in the region, millions of people have been displaced, teachers kidnapped and schools turned into battlegrounds. Escalation of the conflict in the North Kivu region of the DRC has forced 540 schools to close in the past year, removing pivotal educational opportunities from many students (Save the Children, 2024).
Education in the DRC:
This current situation unravels decades of progress in the DRC, where great strides had been made in recent decades to create universal access to education. Access to primary school education has increased significantly in the last few decades, with net attendance rates increasing from 52% in 2001 to 78% in 2018 (UNICEF, 2024).
Nonetheless, the country still faces major structural issues regarding access to education. 7.6 million children and half of all girls between age 5-17 are not in school, with the cost of school for families living in poverty being a major reason (UNICEF, 2024). Despite the promise of free primary education from the DRC government, households facing extreme poverty struggle to pay for registration fees, school uniforms and school supplies (UNICEF, 2024). Secondary school enrolment rates further reflect this education gender gap, with 44% of girls enrolled compared to 70% of boys (UNESCO, 2024). This is further reflected in secondary school completion rates with just 51.4% of girls and 63.5% of boys continuing onto graduation (UNESCO, 2024). For higher education, 5% of women and 8% of men were enrolled in tertiary education in 2020 (UNESCO, 2024).
Payroll fraud, insufficient budgets, and a lack of materials and infrastructure also create challenges for the educational system in the DRC. Many of the 500,000 teachers in the country have gone without government pay for many years, leaving parents responsible to supplement their pay (Brant et al., 2021). In a country with already high levels of poverty, this creates a major financial obstacle to education. Teachers often must supplement their low incomes with second or even third jobs, reducing their time, energy, and passion and consequentially the quality of teaching (Brant et al., 2021).
The gender gap in school enrolment, the socio-economic disparities in educational access, as well as financing issues, are only worsened by the escalating conflict in the DRC. With the closing of hundreds of schools in the country, these systemic issues have and will continue to exacerbate, leaving hundreds of thousands more and more children without education opportunities.
Violence in North Kivu:
Since the beginning of the conflict in DRC in 1996, more than 6 million people have died and many millions more displaced (CFR, 2024). Beginning in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, the First Congo War saw the invasion of the eastern part of the DRC by Rwandan troops and Congo-based Tutsi militias. The invasion of the north Kivu region was supported by Uganda, Burundi and Congo’s then opposition leader and future leader Laurent Kabila. Rwandan officials justified the invasion, arguing that Hutu groups in eastern DRC were still a threat to their Tutsi population who had been decimated during the genocide. While some Hutu militants were killed, the majority of the thousands of causalities were refugees and non-combatant Congolese (CFR, 2024). In 1998, the second Congo War saw worsening political tensions between armed groups and governments in the region. With targeted campaigns against the Huti amounting to war crimes, it caused international outrage. In a failed coup attempt, DRC’s leader, Kabila, was assassinated and replaced by his son (CFR, 2024). The following years saw peace agreements between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda implemented, however rebel groups continued to emerge creating tensions and flashpoints in the last two decades. Most notability, is M23, a mostly Tutsi rebel group with ties to the Rwandan and Ugandan governments. The name is taken from March 23 2009, when the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) signed a peace treaty with the DRC government, becoming a political party and the M23 soldiers integrated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and Islamic State (ISIS) are two major Islamist rebel and affiliated militia groups (Lawal, 2024). The DRC’s abundance of natural resources, especially their large reserves of rare earth minerals and metals essential for modern technology, has propelled their local problems onto the international stage. The involvement of China and historically, large US tech companies has only created further tensions and deepened inequality.
The violent and fraudulent national elections in 2023 saw major clashes between M23 and ADF. This again escalated in February 2024, creating a humanitarian disaster, political chaos and insecurity across the region. Education is not only indirectly affected by this conflict, but also actively targeted. Armed groups have seized 23 schools in the north Kivu region and directly attacked 10 schools (Save the Children, 2024). Teachers have also been kidnapped and students abducted on the way to school or in class. A further 29 schools have also been turned into emergency shelters for displaced civilians (Save the Children, 2024).
Conflict and its impacts on education:
Conflict also indirectly impacts on the right to education. Economic hardship often leaves children forced to work instead of going to school, with girls disproportionally affected. The long-term consequences of conflict can be felt by generations to long-term development setbacks and lack of opportunity (Mlaba, 2023). This leads to long term economic and social disruption, which in turn can trigger further conflicts in the future. Education and its relationship to conflict is often “complex, multi-scalar and non-linear” (Novelli & Cardozo, 2008), meaning that the impacts of conflict are often not immediately noticeable.
Emergency Education:
International efforts have been made to mitigate these effects by protecting education during conflicts and promoting conflict-sensitive education strategies (Mlaba, 2023). As an example of such mitigation efforts, UNICEF, the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) have partnered up to construct three temporary learning spaces (UNICEF, 2024). In just a few weeks, with support from local communities, classrooms were constructed using wood and other readily available materials. These new spaces have allowed several dozen additional pupils to enrol. The temporary classes provide displaced children the opportunity to continue their education and benefit children from nearby families (UNICEF, 2024). On top of their academic studies, students are also learning essential social skills, such as interacting and building relationships with others outside their immediate community. Unfortunately, however, with around 3 quarter of a million children out of school because of this conflict, a lot more must be done to ensure all Congolese children have access to education (UNICEF, 2023).
Conclusively, To to ensure peace and development not only in the DRC, but across the globe, it is of paramount importance that education is prioritised for all children. By protecting education, investing in quality teachers, educating future generations about history and financing rebuilding projects, a more stable and equal society can be reached. While access to education is perhaps not the first issue that comes to mind when discussing the conflict in the DRC, it is highly important to use education as a tool to safeguard long-term stability and peace.
References
Brandt, C.O., Marchais, G., Mwakupemba, J.T., Moshonas, S. De Herdt, T. (2021). Why payroll fraud in the DRC’s education sector will be hard to fix. The Conversation.
https://theconversation.com/why-payroll-fraud-in-the-drcs-education-sector-will-be-hard-to-fix-162257
Center for preventative action (CFR). (May 15, 2024). Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo
Lawal, S. (February 21, 2024). A guide to the decades-long conflict in DR Congo. Aljazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/21/a-guide-to-the-decades-long-conflict-in-dr-congo
Mlaba, K. (June 26, 2023). How do war & conflict impact education? Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-do-war-conflict-impact-education/
Novelli, M., & Cardozo, M.T.L. (2008). Conflict, education and the global south: New critical directions. International Journal of Educational Development, 28(4), 473-488. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2008.01.004
Save the Children. (2024, March 28). DRC: Violence in North Kivu forces over 500 schools to close, with teachers kidnapped and students terrified [Press release].
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/drc-violence-north-kivu-forces-over-500-schools-close-teachers-kidnapped-and-students-terrified
UNICEF. (March 29, 2023). Conflict in eastern DRC is having a devastating impact on children’s education. UNICEF [Press release].
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/conflict-eastern-drc-having-devastating-impact-childrens-education
UNICEF. (2024). Education: every child has the right to go to school and learn.
https://www.unicef.org/drcongo/en/what-we-do/education
UNICEF. (February 22, 2024). A wish to return to school is realized. UNICEF
https://www.unicef.org/drcongo/en/stories/wish-return-school-realized
UNSECO. (January, 2024). Congo, Democratic Republic (DRC): Education Country Brief. International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa.
https://www.iicba.unesco.org/en/node/80#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20UNESCO%20Institute,and%2063.5%20percent%20of%20boys
Featured image by Doug Linstedt from Unsplash
