Languages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

French is the official language and the central language of formal education. Education policy provides for the local or national language to be used as the medium of instruction in preschool and in the first years of primary school; French is introduced orally at first. From the third and fourth years of primary school, French is gradually used in writing. From the fifth and sixth years of primary school and in the upper cycle of basic education (Cycle Terminal de l’Éducation de Base), it is generally the language of instruction. Implementation nevertheless varies by school and province. In upper-secondary education (Humanités), English increasingly forms part of oral, academic or professional training. The specific purpose therefore matters when choosing a language to learn. French facilitates access to school, administration and communication across language regions. Depending on where someone lives, their family, field of work and mobility, Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili or Tshiluba may be crucial for everyday life and local contacts. English is particularly suited to international contacts, research and certain professional goals. Chinese, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish are offered as foreign languages, but depend more heavily on the school, institution and individual objective. The state education administration provides textbooks and teacher guides for French, Lingala, Kiswahili and Ciluba; comprehensive provision for every local language has not been documented. Public primary education is generally compulsory and free. External language courses, certificates and private options, however, follow the conditions set by the respective provider. The French Institute in the DRC (Institut français en RDC) offers language courses at different levels and lists options in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma, including French, Lingala and Swahili. Registration can begin online or in person. This is followed by a placement test from A1 to C2, payment of the course fee and confirmation of the next appointment. The currently accessible catalogue does not provide reliable fees or complete session schedules; these details must be confirmed with the relevant location. For French-language proficiency, the institute and the international French education organization (France Éducation international) offer, among others, DELF, DALF, TCF, TEF and DFP. The country profile from September 2025 reports four examination centres and 629 DELF-DALF candidates in 2024, including 505 in the general and 124 in the junior category. School examinations such as ENAFEP, TENASOSP and EXETAT, by contrast, belong to formal education and are not general external language certificates. The General Directorate of Non-Formal Education (Direction Générale de l’Éducation Non Formelle) coordinates non-formal education options. Centres, partners and community programmes also serve adults or people outside the regular school pathway. A historically documented literacy project used Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili; its theoretical duration was about three months, while implementation in the observed case took about six months. This does not establish a general entitlement to a uniform nationwide programme. Digital materials from the education ministry, open educational resources and the French Institute media library supplement classroom instruction. Earlier radio programmes show one possibility for distance learning but do not prove that a current nationwide course schedule exists. For a reliable choice, language, objective, location, provider, placement, fees, schedule and desired evidence must be reviewed together.