Le rôle de l'éducation dans la consolidation de la paix: Une analyse du système éducatif Congolais

Post-conflict countries are usually characterized by deep societal divisions. In order to establish sustainable peace, these societal divisions need to be constructively and durably mitigated, and ultimately broken down completely. The peace education-literature has convincingly shown that education may play an important role in improving inter-group relations and advancing peace and reconciliation in countries coming out of conflict. But this is not always the case. In the current paper, we investigate the role of the Congolese educational system in advancing sustainable peace in DR Congo; i.e. a country confronted with severe ethnic and political tensions as well as repeated bouts of violence. Our analysis shows that the Congolese educational system faces a number of serious challenges and limitations, which severely constrain its contribution towards peacebuilding in DR Congo. The main shortcomings of the Congolese educational system which we analyse in this paper, are related to a lack of pedagogical skills and experience among teachers to effectively and constructively deal with their country’s violent past in the classroom, authoritarian teaching practices (including widespread use of corporal punishment), insufficient time allocation in the curriculum to issues of ‘Peace education’ and/or ‘Moral and Civic Education’, and conflicts and contests among the teacher corps within schools as well as between policymakers and other stakeholders. For the Congolese educational system to make a more substantial and positive contribution towards advancing sustainable peace in the country, fundamental changes will have be implemented, not only concerning the content of the curricula, the methods of teaching and the formation of teachers, but also concerning the way schools are being run and managed.nrpages: 35status: publishe