School in Congo Republic

The Republic of the Congo has an established school system governed nationally by the Ministère de l’Enseignement Préscolaire, Primaire, Secondaire et de l’Alphabétisation, known as MEPPSA. The state sets curricula, learning time, examinations, diplomas, teacher standards, inspection rules and the approval requirements for private schools. Departments and communes are responsible for much of the local infrastructure, equipment, maintenance and school administration, with community bodies such as COGES also participating in school management. Pre-primary education usually lasts three years, called P1, P2 and P3, for children around three to five years old. Centres d’éducation préscolaire, or CEPs, prepare children for primary school, but access remains uneven across regions and social groups. The national strategy for 2021–2030 aims to reach 50% of five-year-olds and 20% of children aged three to four by 2030. Primary school normally lasts six years. The first cycle includes CP1, CP2 and CE1; the second includes CE2, CM1 and CM2. The current primary completion examination is the Certificat d’Études Primaires Élémentaires, or CEPE. Since 2017, entry to the first year of secondary school has no longer used a separate concours d’entrée en 6e; children enter the next level with the CEPE. Some private schools organise primary education over five years instead of six. General secondary education has two cycles. The collège d’enseignement général lasts four years and leads to the Brevet d’Études du Premier Cycle, or BEPC. The lycée d’enseignement général lasts three further years and leads to the baccalauréat. Secondary technical schools are another school pathway: the first cycle usually lasts two years and leads to the Brevet d’Études Techniques, while the technical or professional lycée usually lasts three years and leads to a technical or professional baccalauréat. Further vocational training belongs to the adjacent vocational-education area rather than to the general school system. The legal framework gives every person the right to education and prohibits discrimination based on origin, nationality, sex, religion, opinion or wealth. Fundamental education is compulsory, and school attendance is legally required up to age 16. Public primary and secondary education has no registration fees under the legal policy, and the state provides subsidies and free reading and numeracy textbooks. In practice, subsidies may arrive irregularly, and families can still face contributions for volunteer teachers, school supplies, uniforms, additional books, examination fees, health insurance, transport and meals. Older estimates put such spending at about 5,000 CFA francs for primary school and 10,000 CFA francs for collège or lycée, but these figures are not a current nationwide fee schedule. Private-school tuition varies by school. Children can attend public or private schools, but admission documents, available places and deadlines depend on the school and school year. Online registration through e-MEPPSA was announced for the 2025–2026 school year, while no reliable nationwide guarantee of a place is established in the available evidence. Rural children, Indigenous children, children from poor households, children with disabilities and girls in the first secondary cycle face particular access barriers. Special education is legally provided through écoles spécialisées, alongside developing forms of inclusive education. The state manages specialised schools, while the Ministère des Affaires Sociales also has a practical role. The available evidence describes a fragmented supply, including about eight specialised schools nationally in 2020 and an institute for children with hearing disabilities in Pointe-Noire. Suitable infrastructure and teaching methods, stigma, shortages of trained staff and limited assistive equipment restrict access, and there is no reliable evidence of nationwide coverage. Completion falls as children move through the system. UIS modeled 2024 estimates put completion at 91.3% for primary school, 62.0% for lower secondary school and 31.1% for upper secondary school. Learning outcomes also remain uneven: 2019 data on minimum proficiency in primary education recorded 33.6% in reading and 7.7% in mathematics. A Council of Ministers proposal approved on 20 January 2026 would make the third year of pre-primary education compulsory, shorten primary school to five years, merge CP1 and CP2 into one CP and replace the CEPE with the CEP. That proposal is not current law until it is promulgated; the existing baseline remains the structure established under loi 25-95.