USAID and UK aid signed a partnership for primary education in the DRC
USAID and UK aid signed an innovative partnership agreement to improve primary education in the DRC
USAID and UK aid signed a partnership for primary education in the DRC
On 30 October, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UK Department for International Development (UK aid) signed an innovative partnership agreement to implement an important programme that will support primary education in the provinces of Katanga, Kasaï Occidental, Kasaï Oriental, Equateur, South Kivu and North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Analysis of the education sector in the DRC reveals a high rate of out-of-school children, poor learning levels and barriers to girls’ education in particular. This joint programme will support the Ministry of Education to improve access, equity, and quality of learning in primary education as well as improve management and transparency in the sector in DRC.
This five-year programme will work in line with the DRC government’s policies, in particular the 10 year Education Sector Strategy and the Interim Education Plan (Plan Intérimaire de l’Education). It will also complement the activities supported through the project to support to basic education (Projet de soutien à l’éducation de base – PROSEB), funded by the Global Partnership for Education.
At the end of the programme, USAID and UK aid aim to achieve the following results in the targeted areas:
- Improved reading and writing for 1.5 million children in local language and in French;
- Access to a primary schooling for 450,000 out-of-school children;
- Increased retention of children in schools by 30%;
- Strengthened capacities of the parents committees, school management committees and school communities;
- Strengthened capacities of the Ministry for Primary, Secondary and Vocational Education.
This partnership between USAID and UK aid reflects the US and UK governments’ priorities to facilitate a long term transition towards a sustainable and more effective development in the DRC, as well as to allow the DRC government to provide and fund long term basic services to its population. Finally, this programme signifies the efforts of the two largest bilateral donors in the DRC to improve the coordination of development partners and alignment of their programmes to Congolese government’s national priorities.
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The programme has been jointly developed by USAID and DFID and will be implemented over a 5 years period (2015-2020). USAID’s contribution is £68m and DFID’s is £36m.