School report card shortage leaves thousands of students shortchanged in Kananga

In Kananga, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the official proclamation of school results has been marred by a severe shortage of report cards. While many schools proceeded with announcing student performance on July 2, they were forced to issue temporary, unofficial documents. Students received photocopies or handwritten notes instead of the expected official, card-stock reports.

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We have already been proclaimed. We were not given a report card, only a piece of paper with the percentage. We are forced to come back in a few days to get the report card.

This situation has ignited anger among parents, who consistently pay school fees that are meant to cover the cost of these official documents. "This has been happening for two to three years; I pay the report card fees without ever seeing the official document given to my children," said Louis Mputu, a parent in Kananga.

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We have been proclaimed, but we were not given the report cards. We were given a photocopy of the report card.

School administrators are deflecting blame onto the provincial education inspection office, stating they have not received the necessary materials. Attempts to reach the provincial inspector were unsuccessful. However, internal sources within the inspection office cited a centralized problem: the official report cards are still awaiting delivery from Kinshasa. This administrative bottleneck leaves thousands of students in uncertainty as the school year concludes, particularly impacting those planning to relocate for further studies.

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This has been happening for two to three years; I pay the report card fees without ever seeing the official document given to my children.