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DR Congo: Catholic schools prepare for new academic year amid Ebola threat
Against a backdrop of strengthened health measures, chronic insecurity, and hope surrounding vaccine trials, Catholic schools in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are preparing for the new academic year and working to ensure that young people do not lose a year of education.
By Severin Moussavou
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the current outbreak of the Ebola virus is spreading more rapidly than any previous outbreak, with a provisional toll of 4,449 confirmed cases and 2,061 deaths.
Amid the health situations, the Congolese Ministry of National Education has officially announced the calendar for the 2026–2027 academic year, with classes set to resume throughout the country on Tuesday, 1 September.
In the Diocese of Bunia, in Ituri Province, preparations are taking place in particularly difficult circumstances as the country faces its 17th Ebola outbreak.
Speaking to Vatican News, Fr.. Willy-Rogatien Dzaringa, diocesan coordinator of Bunia’s Catholic schools, outlined the measures being put in place to enable pupils to return to school safely.
Strengthened health measures, insufficient resources
“The Catholic schools of the Diocese of Bunia, which we administer like all the others, are indeed preparing to open their doors on that date,” Fr. Dzaringa said.
Preparations include strengthening preventive measures, raising awareness “among all those involved in education” and ensuring “fairly rigorous supervision.”
In practical terms, this will involve “reactivating and increasing the number of handwashing stations in all schools” and equipping every school with a non-contact forehead thermometer, commonly known locally as a “thermoflash.”
“Focal points,” established in each school at the end of the previous academic year, will also be responsible for ensuring “the daily reporting of health-related information.”
The diocesan coordinator acknowledged, however, that the system has significant limitations.
“Funding for these handwashing facilities, and especially for the thermoflash forehead thermometers, is highly insufficient,” he lamented.
Although some schools already have equipment, obtained in particular through donations from humanitarian partners, “the available supplies fall far short of schools’ actual needs, especially in rural areas.”
Reassuring families, parish by parish
Beyond the health measures themselves, winning parents’ trust is another major challenge.
“We are already working to reassure parents by providing them with clear information about the measures we are taking in schools to protect their children from the Ebola virus outbreak,” Fr. Dzaringa explained.
These awareness-raising efforts rely in particular on the Association of Parents of Catholic School Pupils (APEC), which passes on the messages “through the various school parents’ committees.”
The parishes in which the schools are located, the diocesan radio station, and other local media outlets are also helping to inform families.
Chronic insecurity compounded by the outbreak
The health crisis comes on top of a much older problem.
“The insecurity created by the successive waves of violence we have experienced has already been disrupting schools for about eight years,” Fr. Dzaringa recalled, dating the beginning of the crisis to around 2018.
Every year, the diocesan coordination office for Catholic schools works to integrate children displaced by the violence—a task he described as “extremely difficult.”
“Whenever we manage to integrate a more or less significant number of these children into our school system, renewed violence forces pupils to flee once again,” he explained.
Despite the combined challenges of chronic insecurity and the Ebola outbreak, Fr. Dzaringa reaffirmed the schools’ determination to continue welcoming displaced pupils.
“We intend to continue enrolling these pupils in schools that have the capacity to receive them, while observing the health measures currently required,” he said.
The diocese also intends “to keep displaced schools operating and to use the school facilities capable of accommodating them, so that classes can resume more quickly.”
Teacher training underway for more than a year
Regarding prevention, the training of teachers and other education personnel “is not starting from scratch,” the diocesan coordinator explained.
The training began in May and June of the previous year, “when the first signs of this outbreak were already becoming apparent,” and has continued even during the school holidays.
Training includes instruction in the use of practical equipment, such as non-contact and conventional thermometers, as well as the dissemination of information through posters, radio programmes and public-service announcements.
For this work, the diocese is counting on the support of diocesan Caritas, particularly its Medical Services Office, and its partners.
Hope surrounding vaccine trials
Asked about the clinical trials currently underway against the Bundibugyo strain, Fr. Dzaringa was unequivocal.
“These vaccination campaigns are indeed raising great hope among the entire population of Ituri Province, which has already been severely affected by this outbreak,” he said.
Like the population as a whole, the school community “is united in calling for the results of these vaccination campaigns to make it possible to bring the spread of this outbreak—which has already claimed a great many lives—effectively under control.”
An urgent appeal to the international community
The diocesan coordinator recalled the course of the crisis. After the Congolese government declared the country’s 17th Ebola outbreak on 15 May, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern two days later.
“More than two months after that declaration, we are seeing a great deal of activity,” he said, referring to extensive efforts by both the Congolese authorities and international humanitarian partners.
However, he added, “what is unfortunately still lacking is the effective coordination—or, I might say, centralisation—of these various initiatives so as to achieve tangible results on the ground.”
He recalled that the Congolese Minister of Health had travelled to Bunia at least three times, as had other members of the government, including the Prime Minister herself.
“On each occasion, they announced in their speeches that millions of dollars had been mobilised to respond to the outbreak,” Fr. Dzaringa noted. “But in practical terms, little progress appears to have been made, and people continue to die in large numbers.”
Fr. Dzaringa also appealed to the WHO, the Congolese government, and international humanitarian partners, including UNICEF.
“Efforts must be strengthened to manage and effectively bring this outbreak to an end,” he said. “I believe that this is what could save the 2026–2027 academic year for the young people of Bunia.”
On Wednesday, 12 August, the director of the WHO’s emergency alert and response programme said efforts were underway to reverse the spread of the virus within three months.
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