Project “Promotion of Quality Education for All”

The educational system in the Democratic Republic of Congo suffers from a severe lack of basic educational infrastructure. This issue is even more pronounced in remote areas like South Kivu, in the eastern part of the country.

Some schools do not have proper buildings, some classrooms lack desks, and very often, teachers have no teaching manuals or official curriculum documents.

For decades, the responsibility of educating children has fallen on the parents, not the government, while most families in these areas live below the poverty line.

The Mizimu Primary School, located in the Baraka municipality (Uvira-Fizu region, South Kivu), is no exception to this bleak picture. It receives nearly 750 boys and girls under poor educational conditions. Given the urgency of the situation, the RFI Club of Uvira decided to take action and find partners to improve the situation.

The 1% For Education Fund thus supported the AI-ODD association and the RFI Club Uvira in their project to equip the school with nearly 150 locally made wooden desks, significantly improving the learning conditions for the many students at the school.

RFI Clubs: A Commitment to Local Action

RFI Clubs are associations of listeners of Radio France Internationale (RFI) that are spread across over a hundred countries worldwide. The commitment of RFI Clubs spans a wide range of areas, including education, entrepreneurship, sports, health, access to culture, information, and humanitarian and environmental action. They define themselves as powerful regional actors, carrying out micro-projects that provide solutions and development prospects while fostering social connections.

A school with no desks

In the classrooms of Mizimu Primary School, students sat on stones, bricks, or directly on the floor, taking notes on their knees. These conditions were far from ideal for learning.

Equipment improved with the project

As a result of the project carried out by AI-ODD and the RFI Club Uvira, the students now have desks, allowing each of them to sit comfortably and place their notebooks. The teachers have also been provided with a desk and a chair.