DRC: Impact of COVID-19, conflict and policy reforms on education

In 2020, education provision in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s eastern region was challenged in three notable ways, which are also closely linked to child protection needs. First, through the application of a new free primary education policy, which has overwhelmed resources; secondly, by persistent conflict in several provinces, provoking widespread displacement; and thirdly, by enforced closures of schools nation-wide as a COVID-19 containment measure. These factors have strained an education system that was already underfunded and stretched beyond capacity and have resulted in children struggling to access quality education across the country, and particularly in the eastern region. 

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