© AFP – PAPY MULONGO
The University of Kinshasa (illustrative image)
The re-entry into universities and higher institutes on Wednesday takes place against a backdrop of social tensions in public establishments. The teachers’ unions announce a strike movement for a renewable period of 21 days. Professors demand salary improvements. In a press release, they accuse the government of keeping teachers in “unparalleled precarious” living and working conditions.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
To explain the strike, the professors say they note with bitterness, the ” manifest bad faith of the government “. On several occasions, the state has signed compromises with them without respecting them, their press release said.
With the devaluation of the Congolese currency and withholding taxes, professors have lost 40% of their purchasing power, says one of their trade unionists, Mathieu Boloko from the University of Kinshasa.
A professor earns about $ 1,350, according to the union, which now claims $ 2,100. Other claims: health insurance, life but also the ease of mobility and the acquisition of housing.
The professors say they remain ready to negotiate with the government which has so far failed to follow through on their specifications.
But in the meantime, the whole sector is paralyzed. Because in addition to the professors, the heads of work and assistants also go on strike this Wednesday for similar reasons.
If a foreman earns around $ 260, a teaching assistant gets only $ 100, less than a bailiff and less than a primary school teacher. This treatment, according to the unions, is akin to a ” notorious wickedness From decision-makers.