DINACOPE Regularises Over 23,000 Teachers on Free-Schooling Bonus

Kinshasa, DRC, August 13, 2026 - At an August 12 press briefing, DINACOPE national director Vital Lumbala Kadiata said 24,296 teachers had been regularised on the free-primary schooling bonus since his February 2026 appointment: 23,675 primary teachers now receive the full CDF 80,000, and 621 who had not been on the bonus were added. He said no extra Treasury envelope was requested; more than CDF 471 million was freed by cleaning duplicates and fictitious cases, and 148 bureau administrators fraudulently on the payroll were deactivated. Digitalisation and biometric controls (fingerprint and facial recognition) are being rolled out at central level. Unjustified payroll cuts remain banned after January deductions of CDF 20,000 from the bonus in some education provinces were corrected for February. Outstanding challenges include New Units (NU) and Unpaid (NP) teachers ahead of the September 1 school year.