December 2022 – Under the Students Acting for Accountability and Quality of Education project, funded by the Global Partnership for Education through Education Out Loud (Operational Component 2), with Oxfam IBIS, CERC has produced and handed out 2,250 integrity education manuals and 2,250 monitoring guides to the 2,250 students, aged 14 to 19, of the Integrity Clubs in 150 secondary schools in Kinshasa and South Kivu.
Each student received one of each:
- the Integrity Club manual allows students to found and lead Integrity Clubs in which members can learn – and apply – integrity;
- the monitoring guide gives young people the knowledge and skills to monitor education services in their schools using EduCheck, CERC's mobile and web app, and to report problems so they can be fixed.
The distribution follows a round of training. From 2 to 15 November 2022, CERC held nine two-day workshops on the mechanisms that build integrity in schools for 300 students – 180 from South Kivu and 120 from Kinshasa – who share what they learned with the other members of their clubs. In September, 278 teachers and 138 principals from the same 150 schools had been trained to coach the clubs.
The year has shown what students can do with the right tools. In 2022, CERC established 204 Integrity Clubs in South Kivu and Kinshasa, and student-led advocacy resolved 33% of the problems identified, from inadequate classrooms to sanitation facilities.
A survey CERC carried out this year on its Integrity Club model in South Kivu and Kinshasa showed that young people recognise the importance of integrity and are motivated to improve their schools, and that those who take part in monitoring gain confidence and a better awareness of their civil rights. Where focal teachers and headteachers are supportive, the climate for monitoring is positive.
Next, with manuals and guides in hand, club members will monitor education services in their schools and report problems on EduCheck. In 2022, CERC also partnered with the African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption (APNAC DRC) to formulate two legislative proposals to incorporate Integrity Clubs and integrity education into the DRC's education system.
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Read also: 300 students trained in anti-corruption mechanisms