Congo, Democratic Republic of the (DROC) - Education

The colonial system of education became notable for its failure to provide university training for Africans although the rate of elementary school attendance under the Belgians was one of the highest in Africa (56% in 1959). This figure was deceptive, however, since most elementary schooling was limited to the first two grades. Fewer than 10% of school-age children completed the six-year elementary cycle. Understandably, one of the chief efforts of the successive governments of the DROC has been to push as many schoolchildren as possible beyond the threshold of the two-year cycle. This effort has accounted for a massive increase in elementary-school population since 1960. As of 1999, 33% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, while 12% of those eligible attended secondary school.

Education is compulsory between ages 6 and 12. Primary-school enrollment, which was 1,403,572 in 1958/59, rose to 5,417,506 in 1995. In the same year, there were 14,885 primary schools and 121,054 teachers. The pupil-teacher ratio at the primary level was 26 to 1 in 1999. The development of secondary education has also been dramatic: the number of secondary-school students rose from 38,000 in 1960–61 to 1,514,323 in 1995. Among adults, illiteracy was estimated in 1995 at 22.7% (males, 13.4%; females, 32.3%).

University education was virtually nonexistent in the Belgian Congo prior to the mid-1950s. Up to that time, only a handful of Africans had been permitted to enroll in Belgian universities. Teacher-training institutions, religious seminaries, and advanced technical training in medicine, agronomy, and public administration were available, but did not lead to recognized university degrees. The Catholic University of Lovanium at Kinshasa (affiliated with the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium) was organized in 1953. The State University of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi at Lubumbashi was set up in 1955. A third university was established at Kisangani under Protestant auspices in 1962. A number of specialized institutes of higher learning were also created following independence.

In August 1971, the existing institutes and the three universities were amalgamated into a single national university system, the National University of Zaire, organized into three separate campuses located in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and Kisangani. The three campuses were reorganized as separate universities in 1981. In 1995 all higher level institutions had 93,266 pupils. The DROC also has numerous university institutes, including ones specializing in agriculture, applied technology, business, and the arts.