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🇨🇩 DR Congo /Culture & Society

Only Nine of 255 Expected Students Attend First Day at Mbanza-Ngungu School

From Radio Okapi · () French

Translated from French and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Nine boys and no girls attended the first day of classes at EP1 INERA Mvuazi, despite 255 students being expected.
  • School officials said some parents routinely wait until the second week to send their children to class.
  • Inspector Esther Kitala urged parents to send children even in old uniforms, saying teachers had prepared lessons and every school day counts.

Only nine of the 255 students expected arrived at EP1 INERA Mvuazi in Mbanza-Ngungu on the first day of the 2026-2027 school year. All nine were boys, and no girls attended.

Teachers were present, but most classrooms remained empty. The school director said some parents had developed a habit of keeping children home during the first week and sending them the following Monday instead.

We are here with the teachers, but there are no students so far. It has become a custom: they let the first week pass and surprise people the following week.

— School directorThe director described the recurring absence of pupils during the first week of classes.

Inspector Esther Kitala, who came to supervise the opening day, urged parents to send their children even if they had only old uniforms. She said teachers were waiting and had prepared lessons, while the school day ran until 12:50 p.m.

Kitala reminded parents that the number of required school days is fixed and urged them to follow the academic calendar so pupils can benefit from instruction from the first day.

We ask parents to send their children, even in old uniforms. They can still come and study.

— Esther KitalaThe inspector urged families not to delay attendance because of uniforms.
About this summary

Originally published by Radio Okapi in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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