In collaboration with the Academy of Research and Higher Education (ARES), the University of Kinshasa is organizing a national conference.

Theme

University and the challenge of socioeconomic development in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the face of COVID-19

Date: November 23-26, 2020

Location: Room J (Faculty of Polytechnic)

Time: 8:30 a.m.

Participating institutions 

ULIEGE, ERAIFT, UNILU, UNIKIN, UOB, UCC, UKA, UK, UNIGOM, UPC, ISSI, CEPROMAD, IFASIC, ISC, ISTA, ISP/GOMBE, INA, ULK, BEL CAMPUS, ULOYOLA, UPN, ISTM

Warm welcome

Background and rationale

The university is "the intelligence of the nation, the center of intellectual activity from which arises the renewal of the scientific, social, cultural and political life of a country; the center of thought where the effort of interpreting the society of which it is a part is concentrated, by studying the meaning of its history and contributing to revealing its future image." Teaching to train competent executives, conducting research and providing service to the community characterize university activity. The university is thus considered a place dedicated to the search for truth and the transmission of the intellectual heritage of humanity.

Socio-economic development, for its part, should not be conceived "as an end in itself, but as the material basis necessary for the transformation of unacceptable social conditions and the establishment of a dynamic society capable of offering equal and greater opportunities to all its members based on its resources in a dynamic of distributive justice.  

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, higher and university education in the Democratic Republic of Congo was born in 1954 with the creation of the University of Kinshasa. This was followed by two other universities: the University of Lubumbashi and the University of Kisangani. The vast majority of the Congolese elite, who currently preside over the destiny of this country, graduated from these universities. In addition to these three universities, a multitude of academic institutions have grown to reach more than a hundred in all provinces of the country. Unfortunately, the economic and social situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently more disastrous than when the university was created, despite the reforms carried out. In 2014, the Congolese university celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.

Indeed, the Congolese university has undergone an evolution marked by various reforms, including those of 1981 and 2004, which have not allowed the Congolese higher education system to gradually adapt to the universal changes in the academic and scientific environment in order to participate in the construction of the global university space through competition in the supply of knowledge and innovations. However, the globalization of the university space imperatively entails the need for any university to promote training and research programs that are in line with the evolution of society, knowledge and innovations, while integrating into the realities of its environment. In such a context where the Congolese university does not agree with the new requirements, fears seem well-founded that it could become further marginalized and be incapable of "meeting the challenges of development, governance, and the valorization of the so-called scandalous natural resources available to the DR Congo.

It is therefore safe to say that the Congolese university is in crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted this slump, sparing no sector of Congolese social organization. This calls into question the role of the university in the economic and social development of our country, especially at a time when all sectors are disorganized by the effects of COVID-19. Indeed, the strategic plan for Higher and University Education states that after a long conflict, the Democratic Republic of Congo has returned to the path of growth. However, the current governance crisis reveals that the DR Congo remains vulnerable. This vulnerability is explained by the lack of security of economic operators and poor governance. This is particularly reflected in the major corruption that plagues the DRC at all levels of economic and social life. During these years of conflict, education, and in particular public and private higher education institutions, for which demand is very high, have shown remarkable resilience. Parents contribute significantly to its funding. We believe that higher and university education must contribute to meeting the significant need for skilled labor and also to strengthening the rule of law and the efficiency of administrations in order to support more sustainable growth. But for university education to play its role, it is essential that civic and moral values be at the center of the training and governance of university institutions. Our universities must be part of the development of public-private partnerships to ensure, in particular, the employability of trained young people.

It is aware on the one hand of this challenge of the danger of marginalization of the global university space characterized by excellence and competitiveness, and on the other hand of the poor performance of Congolese universities to truly participate in the development processes of Congolese society, that the University of Kinshasa in collaboration with ARES, organizes this national Colloquium. The aim is to meet the challenges posed to university training and research, to avoid the disappearance of the Congolese University, its marginalization, and thus to be attractive in the search for solutions to the multifaceted and multidimensional crises of the DR Congo, crises reinforced by the effects of COVID-19.

This scientific meeting, which will be attended by other Congolese universities from Kinshasa and the provinces, is intended to be a framework for reflection on the place of Congolese university teaching and research in the development process of the DR Congo in a troubled context imposed on us by the coronavirus-19 pandemic, the scars of which will be felt for a long time. An in-depth analysis of the challenges that the Congolese university should face will allow it to envisage a longer process of more in-depth reflection, with a view to rethinking its structures, its governance, its organization, its training and research programs. This would have the aim of strengthening the quality of training, research and services to the community as it was in the first decades of its existence.

Objectives of this conference

Thus, the main objective of this National Colloquium is to reflect on the issues facing the Congolese University in this troubled period of COVID-19, and the challenges it will have to face not only to deserve a prominent place in a very competitive international academic and scientific environment, but also to be essential for Congolese political decision-makers in the search for solutions to the many problems and thus meet the needs of Congolese society.

Specifically, these days aim to:

• Reflect on how the different paradigms of organization and governance of universities have been taken into account or not by Congolese universities, and have influenced their functioning;
• To discuss ways to improve the functioning and institutional performance of Congolese universities in order to increase their contributions to the social and economic reconstruction of the DR Congo, especially in the context of Covid-19, the effects of which will be felt for a long time.
• Consider resilience strategies that will enable Congolese universities to overcome obstacles to achieving their missions. 
• Define the requirements that the Congolese university must meet in order to successfully integrate the three-cycle reform, called LMD;
• Determine the funding requirements of Congolese universities by public authorities, international organizations and businesses.
• To propose, at the end of the debates, principles that should lead to a model of governance for Congolese universities, which will enable the Democratic Republic of Congo to face not only the challenges posed to current Congolese society and its environment, but also those posed by the globalization of trade, trade whose models are fundamentally being reshaped due to the consequences of Covid-19.
• Training young people in job creation (incubators, etc.)

To achieve this goal, the sub-themes following will be analyzed:

1. The Drift of Congolese Universities: What University for the DR Congo of Tomorrow?

Advances in all areas of knowledge require the Congolese University to update its mission in order to adopt a vision that will integrate long-term culture into its customs and traditions. The statement of such a mission suggests that the Congolese University, like any modern university, must recognize that it does not exist for the purposes of its members' goals, but above all, through its usefulness, to meet the needs and expectations of Congolese society. The visibility of Congolese universities must be built on excellent scientific output, quality training, and impeccable services to the community. All of these performances will give our universities a remarkable and appreciated national and international status. This will allow them to be ranked among the best universities in the world. Congolese universities must define themselves in relation to these requirements. Unfortunately, many practices decried by the various stakeholders of the Congolese university continue to impact its organization and operation, as well as the quality of its graduates, seeing their chances of accessing the job market drastically reduced. Among these criticisms that deserve a profound transformation of collective thinking in Congolese universities can be cited: the low level of students at entry to the higher level; teachings given on the sly; the dispersion of teachers in several extramural activities to the detriment of students; the plethora of student numbers; noise pollution and all kinds of noise; the lack of libraries, laboratories, and new technologies in the digital and communication world; the less than stellar conditions of teachers; evaluations exempted from the obligation of merit and scientific rigor; precarious living conditions of most students; the accreditation and tolerance of higher education institutions that do not meet the minimum conditions for operation; etc.

Hence the need to initiate discussions aimed at presenting a new face of the Higher Education and University Institutions of the DR Congo to a society that never stops giving them unflattering descriptions that are contrary to the excellence expected of them.

2. Scientific research in universities in crisis.

Research is an important component of any university's mission. In the past, Congolese universities, particularly the Universities of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and Kisangani, fulfilled this mission well. Their reputation in this field was well-known. The publications of their professors and researchers were present in most of the libraries of major universities around the world. The scientific splendor of these universities, which attracted foreign students, researchers, and teachers, gradually faded due to numerous existential problems: inadequate management and the absence of a national research policy; the deterioration of the social situation of researchers; insufficient and outdated scientific materials and equipment; and insufficient financial resources. All of these problems plunge Congolese universities into a deep crisis that affects both training and services to the community.

3. Political and international constraints on training through the linking of Congolese universities to the LMD.

Aware of the situation of higher education in the DR Congo, in the face of the globalization of the world university space characterized by excellence and competitiveness, Congolese legislators initiated the new framework law for national education which was promulgated in February 2014. The institution by this law of the gradual transition to the LMD in higher education institutions continues to arouse among stakeholders in these institutions, more concerns about the challenges to be overcome to achieve it. This fear is further fueled by selective interventions in a minimal number of faculties of certain public universities, thanks to a program supported by the supervisory ministry and financed by an international donor. The application of the LMD in a complete manner in certain private institutions, or in a partial manner by master's programs (Matser) in certain public institutions, calls into question the need to validate the certification according to the new designations. Hence the interest in learning about the issues and challenges of the transition to the three-cycle system (LMD) following the promulgation of the 2014 framework law, the publication of the LMD normative framework in 2018 (not yet legislated); and the dysfunctions already felt in the universities benefiting from the related aid.

4. The challenge of community service by Congolese universities: COVID-19 as a revealer of the crisis in scientific research in the DR Congo

The advent of COVID-19 has set in motion all human intelligences across the world in search of different medical, pharmaceutical, social and economic solutions, to face this pandemic which continues to reveal its complexity, as it has undermined all sectors of life, sparing no country across the world. Many have seen their activities forced to stop for a long time, even permanently. The Democratic Republic of Congo, like a significant number of countries on the African continent which did not experience the carnage predicted by the World Health Organization (WHO), is coping as best it can despite a mediocre health system. However, persistent questions remain on various interdisciplinary issues related to this pandemic: the management of the pandemic response; conflicts of treatment protocols; explanations for the manifest collective immunity in the DR Congo; the influence of ecological and environmental factors; the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic; political decision-makers' distrust of scientific expertise; social representations of the pandemic; socio-anthropological solutions imagined by populations, etc.

5. Public authorities, private sectors, donors and university funding.

The desire to thoroughly reform Congolese universities in an environment that takes into account the new knowledge economy requires substantial resources that should be available through autonomous structures that are in no way subservient to politics. This will facilitate governance, while recognizing the role of politics in supporting the search for funding that will complement that generated by universities from indirect costs of research funding in which researchers will be involved. Congolese universities should also redefine themselves in relation to their respective regional specificities and usefulness with a view to attractive innovations for private companies and international donors.

Date : This Conference will be held in University of Kinshasa from Monday, November 23 to Thursday, November 26, 2020.

General report

General Rapporteur: Dany Tungisa

Deputy General Rapporteur: Igor Sakala Matonda

Organizing Committee:

President: Daniel Ngoma-Ya-Nzuzi (Rector).

First Vice President: Banza Nsomwe-a-Nfukwa

Second Vice President: Jean Pierre Tshibangu

Third Vice President: Georges Mvumbi Lelo

Scientific Coordinator: Jacob Sabakinu Kivilu

Deputy Coordinator: Pascal Kapagama

Members: Kienge Kienge (Faculty of Law),

                        Taba Kalulu Muzele(Sciences),

                        Ntungila Floribert (Economic Sciences),

                        Swadi (Pharmacy),

                          Mwengwe Yvon (Educational Sciences)

                        Jan Bogaert (ARES)

                        Serge Jaumain (ARES)

                        Jean-Louis Genard (ARES)

Secretariat:

• Dolly Mampuya Bakodila
• Bodo Caesar
• Yok Bakwey Antoine

Done in Kinshasa, November 15, 2020

The Coordinator of the Organizing Committee

Professor Jacob SABAKINU Kivilu