Kinshasa has about 8 million inhabitants. About a fourth of the population is between 6 and 12 years old and should, according to Congolese law, go to primary school. Unfortunately, only 50% of the children in Kinshasa effectively attends school. Of these 50%, only 25% finally finish primary school.

We have made a lot of inquiries and even met with the Minister of Education of the Province Kinshasa. By now, we have the idea of finally understanding the school system of Congo. Kinshasa has over 3.000 Private Schools, that must obtain an "approval" from the government. The approximately 500 State Schools can be subdivided between denominational and conventional schools (Catholic, Protestants, Salvation Army and Kimbanguiste etc).

School fee at State Schools, which is being paid to the government, is only 1 US dollar each year. However, the salary of the teachers, paid by the government, is so little, that schools also ask each student to contribute to the salary and transportation fees of the teachers. At all of our renovated schools, the school fee is at least 50 US dollar each year. This is a huge amount of money for the average Congolese. Because of this, only 50% of the children in Kinshasa can attend school and only 5% of these children are actually able to pay the total annual amount of school fee.

As a result of the poor payments at State Schools, the best teachers prefer working at the Private Schools, as they pay higher salaries. It goes without saying that this aspect has an enormous influence on the educational level at State Schools. In March 2008, Unesco and Unicef published a report on the educational situation in Congo. One of the conclusions of this report is that children at State Schools perform considerable less compared to children at Private Schools. Another important conclusion of the report is that children in the fourth grade of Primary Schools, still have not mastered comprehensive reading. Teachers do have a textbook, that in detail describes the daily program for the whole school year, but that is all there is. Children seldom have textbooks and they only receive information through the blackboard.

Another big problem at State Schools is the shortage of school buildings. Most schools therefore share their building with another school. At one school, the lessons are held in the morning, and at the other school in the afternoon. Each school has its own board and teachers. Unfortunately, the buildings are nearly all in bad shape. To improve and renovate the school buildings, the government has formed "partnerships" with NGO's and private initiatives, such as the "En Classe" foundation. Because of these organisations, thankfully more and more schools in Kinshasa have been renovated over the last years.