DRC: teachers partly maintain strike despite union call
Photo taken in August 2020. A teacher and his students in a classroom at Reverend Kim school in Kinshasa.
(Drawing).
AFP - ARSENE MPIANA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Despite the trade unions' slogan to resume classes on Monday, November 1, some of the teachers decided to continue their strike movement while awaiting the fulfillment of the government's promises.
Since the start of the school year on October 4, students in several public schools have not started classes, demanding salary improvements and the pay of thousands of teachers who have remained unpaid.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Pascal Mulegwa
“
The teachers are there, we are dispatching the students today.
For the rest, we will see how it goes
, ”summarizes Ramazani, teacher.
At Lingwala III Primary School in the center of the capital, school life seemed to be recovering this morning, with students massed in the courtyard.
Ramazani is distributing
attendance lists to his colleagues
for the first time
in a month
.
“
Since the start of the school year, we came here, the teachers did not touch the chalk, they stayed nearby, and the students played
,” he says
.
And then, at 12 p.m., they would come home.
"
In other schools, teachers show up in the courtyard, without entering the classroom.
The strike has resulted in fewer students in schools, as in Lingwala III.
“
Most parents took their children away, since after a month, the students were not studying
,” Ramazani continues
.
Most parents who were flexible took their children away to write them to private school.
"
In this classroom, the teacher Bisaka Ilenda perceives the declarative list, but for simple formalities.
"
There may be an incident, it is based on that that I can justify myself
," continues the teacher
.
Our authorities are bizarre
: if it is necessary to place the salary report of a minister or of any authority, that does not trigger a debate.
But to
pay a teacher
even $ 500 is a problem.
"
The strikers say they are waiting
for the government's promises to materialize
before resuming classes.
The delay in classes will be difficult to catch up.
In DRC, classes resume unevenly after weeks of strike
Pascal Mulegwa
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