A Strategic Compass for National Learning
In a ceremony held on 11 November 2025 at Pefaco Hotel Maya-Maya in Brazzaville, Congolese authorities and their partners from UNESCO and the International Bureau of Education validated the country’s first Curriculum Orientation Framework, known by its French acronym COC. The manuscript, delivered to senior officials including Joseph Bizard, interim chief-of-staff to the Minister of Pre-school, Primary, Secondary Education and Literacy, crystallises years of collective reflection on how to anchor schooling in national values while opening pupils to global competencies.
Mrs Marlène Omolongo, speaking on behalf of UNESCO’s representative in Congo, saluted “a shared vision of a modern, inclusive and resilient education, fully rooted in national heritage and resolutely outward-looking”. Her remarks echoed the government’s ambition to equip every classroom with a clear pedagogical compass capable of guiding curricula, textbooks, assessments and teacher practice toward the Sustainable Development Goal 4 of quality education for all.
Equity Gains Through Infrastructure and Nutrition
The Framework is the flagship deliverable of the Education Sector Support Programme financed by the Global Partnership for Education and steered by UNESCO alongside the Congolese line ministries. According to Mrs Omolongo, the programme has already tackled one of the system’s historical bottlenecks—territorial equity—by erecting twenty-five fully equipped pre-school classrooms, installing gender-segregated latrines in twenty-four primary schools and rehabilitating twenty-three potable-water points.
School canteens have further mitigated dropout risks. More than nineteen thousand pupils across eighty-two schools in four departments now receive regular meals, a logistical feat that, officials insist, directly translates into higher attendance and learning continuity.
Enhancing Quality via Teacher Training and Materials
Quality, the second pillar of the reform, has been addressed through an ambitious human-capital drive. One thousand three hundred and fifty volunteer teachers and one hundred and fifty-four pedagogical supervisors completed intensive training modules financed under the programme. Concurrently, over fifty-one thousand textbooks and a quarter-million activity workbooks in French and mathematics have been distributed, reinforcing the 608 000 manuals already purchased by the government. The combined effort brings the country closer to its declared objective of providing every pupil with core subject materials.
Data-Driven Governance and System Efficiency
Efficiency constitutes the third axis, with the modernisation of the Education Management Information System (SIGE) standing out as a quiet revolution. After a five-year hiatus, the ministry has published statistical yearbooks for the school years 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, restoring evidence-based steering capacity at central and local levels. “Reliable data are the backbone of prudent policymaking,” Joseph Bizard observed, underscoring that investments guided by verified indicators will yield better returns for learners and taxpayers alike.
Curriculum Leadership for the Twenty-First-Century Learner
Beyond physical infrastructure and materials, the COC aspires to shape the profile of the Congolese citizen. Drafted after the États généraux de l’éducation, and refined by a thirty-five-member inter-ministerial team trained by UNESCO-IBE, the document sets out the values, competencies and pedagogical choices deemed essential for a creative, responsible and culturally anchored youth.
Mr Anicet Kombo, interim chief-of-staff at the Ministry of Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education, described the Framework as “both philosophy and guideline”, explaining that it articulates standards, norms and pedagogical advice binding on schools, curriculum developers and examination boards. By aligning instruction, assessment and teacher development around a coherent spine, authorities expect to build a resilient system capable of meeting contemporary challenges without sacrificing identity.
Looking ahead, implementation will require the concerted mobilisation of educators, communities and development partners. Yet the official adoption of the COC signals that Congo-Brazzaville has joined a vanguard of African nations deploying systemic curriculum reform as a lever for inclusive growth. In the words of Mrs Omolongo, the November milestone “illustrates our common commitment to a more equitable, more efficient and more sustainable education system”—a commitment now anchored in a document that aspires to steer Congolese classrooms well beyond the present decade.