Author: Arsene Mbala

A renewed call for scholastic diligence in Pointe-Noire In the shaded courtyard of the departmental headquarters, the director for Primary, Secondary Education and Literacy, Frédéric César Bayonne, distilled his message into one unapologetically simple maxim: “Success lies at the end of persevering effort.” His interview, granted on the eve of the 2025-2026 rentrée, reached well beyond ceremonial encouragement. It was a summons to pupils to recognise themselves as “masters of their destiny” and to teachers to apply themselves with equal rigour. By explicitly linking destiny, discipline and diligence, Bayonne knitted a narrative of responsibility that enlists every classroom actor, from…

Congo school reopening 2025: date firmly set With a tone that mixed resolve and reassurance, Jean-Luc Mouthou, Minister of Pre-school, Primary, Secondary Education and Literacy, confirmed that classes will resume across Congo-Brazzaville on Wednesday 1 October 2025. Speaking on 29 September in Brazzaville during a meeting with the prefects of six départements, he dismissed suggestions of postponement. In his words, “The government is ready: Wednesday 1 October 2025, it is the reopening nationwide.” By stressing governmental preparedness while acknowledging lingering parental concerns, the minister sought to end speculation and give schools a clear operational horizon. Rural textbook distribution strengthens equity…

A ceremony of hope at the Savorgnan-de-Brazza Memorial The marble forecourt of the Pierre-Savorgnan-de-Brazza Memorial echoed with applause on 26 September as 165 trainees—102 women and 63 men—received their certificates after several months of rigorous instruction. Families, municipal officials and representatives of international donors attended the event, lending weight to what Dieudonné Badawé, country coordinator of the NGO Essor, called “a collective investment in the nation’s future” (Journal de Brazza, 26 September 2025). Training initiative bridges critical skills gap Drawn from diverse neighbourhoods of Brazzaville, the graduates mastered competencies in mechanical maintenance, computer support, electrical welding, hospitality, hairdressing, fashion design,…

Annual strategy session sets the tone The soft late-September light filtering into the library of Brazzaville’s Russian House did little to temper the seriousness of purpose that animated the educators assembled there on 25 September. Convened by Director Maria Fakhrutdinova, principals, academic deans and teachers of Russian reviewed the previous school year and defined the objectives that will guide instruction in 2025-2026. The gathering has become a fixture of the capital’s educational calendar, but this edition carried a particular weight, linking the customary evaluation exercise to fresh resources promised by Moscow. “Each year we meet before classes resume in order…

A strategic pipeline for human capital Under the early morning shade of the Revolution High School in Ouenzé, the air vibrated with a mixture of nervousness and ambition. Six hundred and forty-five recent graduates, armed with freshly sharpened pencils and graphing calculators, began the selective test that may turn them into the statisticians and planners on whom Congo-Brazzaville increasingly pins its development trajectory. By jointly opening the proceedings, the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Integration, Ludovic Ngatsé, and the Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technological Innovation, Edith Delphine Emmanuel, signalled a rare convergence of policy and…

Exam Success in Brazzaville Correctional Facility The rust-coloured gates of the Brazzaville Remand and Correction Centre briefly opened on 20 September not to release inmates but to let knowledge in. During a tightly choreographed ceremony, Colonel-Major Jean Blaise Komo, Director-General of the Penitentiary Administration, distributed the official attestations for the 2025 session of State examinations: the Primary School Certificate, the Junior Secondary Brevet and, most coveted, the General Baccalaureate. In a context where study hours are constrained by security protocols and materials often scarce, fourteen candidates had nevertheless braved the syllabus; eleven were declared successful, a record percentage that the…

Second scholarship call amplifies research momentum In a measured yet ambitious step, the Oyo Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency has announced the launch of its second national scholarship programme. The initiative, directed toward Congolese students enrolled in the final year of a master’s degree or in post-master studies within public universities, is scheduled to close applications on 31 October. According to the Centre’s acting director, Dr Bérangère Moukouéké, the renewed call “consolidates our conviction that the Republic of Congo can generate home-grown solutions to its energy challenges” (Centre press briefing, 24 May 2024). Created in 2021…

Ceremony in Tié-Tié Marks a Milestone A humid mid-morning sun filtered through the stained-glass windows of Saint-Jean Bosco parish in Tié-Tié on 30 July 2025, yet the atmosphere in the nave felt unmistakably electric. Family members, municipal officials and representatives of civil society filled the benches to applaud 95 young women and men who had just completed the second cohort of the Programme de Formation et d’Insertion Professionnelle (FIP). The initiative, financed by the European Union and the Agence française de développement and implemented by the NGO ESSOR and the Association des jeunes pour l’innovation au développement, aims at providing…

A distinguished voice emerges in Congolese education research The auditorium of Marien-Ngouabi University in Brazzaville fell into an attentive silence on 12 September as Reine Mervine Gankama defended her master’s thesis in quantitative economics. Entitled “The Weight of Socio-demographic and Extra-school Factors on School Dropout in Congo,” the 150-page study earned the highest honours—16/20 with unanimous congratulations—underscoring both its scientific depth and its social relevance. Presiding over the panel, lecturer Samba Bruno praised a “methodologically impeccable and socially resonant contribution,” while the two other jurors, Mavoungou Soula Ulrich and supervisor M’Piayi Auguste, echoed the sentiment. In a national context where…

Ministerial pledge marks decisive milestone The Republic of Congo’s drive to upgrade its educational landscape has entered a decisive phase. On 7 September in Brazzaville, Minister of Preschool, Primary, Secondary Education and Literacy Jean Luc Mouthou assured that every school facility currently under construction or rehabilitation will be delivered before the opening of the 2025-2026 academic year. His statement, made during an extensive inspection tour of worksites, positions the forthcoming deadline as both a logistical objective and a symbol of governmental commitment to human-capital development. Strategic roadmap for modern learning environments The minister’s itinerary took him to the Ngamakosso neighbourhood…