From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZAIRE: State universities struggle as private education prospers
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 23:51:56 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ZAIRE: State universities struggle as private education prospers


an inter press service feature

by barbara borst

paris, jan 15 (ips) - zaire's state-run universities, suffering
from the country's economic and political upheavals, lack
laboratory supplies, classroom and library maintenance and, often,
money for faculty salaries.

with no solutions to the larger problems in sight, educators
concerned over those conditions have taken matters into their own
hands by opening numerous private institutions, many of them under
the auspices of catholic and protestant churches.

ruhamanyi bisimwa, vice rector of the catholic university of
bukavu, said that, even in its best days, zaires's national
government never got around to providing a university for the
country's vast eastern region.

when education, nationalised in 1972, was liberalised again in
1989, permitting the establishment of private institutions, the
kivu regional assembly voted its approval for the catholic church
to open the university at bakavu primarily to serve the lake
region near the borders with uganda, rwanda, burundi and tanzania.

''the people asked the church to do this. it was the one
institution that could do it,'' bisimwa said during a visit to
paris in search of financial support for the university which
opened in november 1989.

enrollment at bukavu has nearly doubled from 277 in 1990 to 500
in 1992. the university accepts students of all faiths. courses,
which include medicine, agronomy, economics and sciences, are
geared toward development needs of the region.

bismwa and elienne ganywa, the university's representative in
france, said people in the region seek autonomy because they feel
they have been marginalised during the 28-year rule of president
mobutu sese seko.

meanwhile, zaires's contentious national conference, with its
2,700 delegates, has dragged on since 1991, making little progress
toward democratic rule or economic stability.

''we have had 28 years under an administration that has gone from
bad to worse,'' ganywa said. ''the university satisfies a little
of the thirst for autonomy.''

although much larger, the three state-run universities, at
kinshasa in the west, kisangani in the north and lubumbashi in the
south, serve few students from the kivu region, bisimwa said.
transportation costs are a factor because of poor road conditions.
in fact bukavu students have to fly the 2,000 kms to kinshasa, the
capital. (more/ips)

zaire: state universities struggle as private education prospers(2-e)

yengola thabize, director of the cultural service at zaire's
embassy in paris, said the three big universities are struggling
to hold onto faculty staff as other institutions tempt them with
larger, and more regular salaries. however, the poor condition of
laboratories, libraries, and infrastructure is the most serious
problem, he added.

''we see private institutions springing up all over the place,''
thabize said. ''they're growing like mushrooms in all the big
provinces. the government approves of this as it may resolve a
crucial problem of training and education.''

the catholic university of bukavu, while not large as the
catholic faculty at kinshasa or the private university at kananga,
''appears to be one of the most serious projects,'' he added.

such projects receive no money from the state, he said, since
there are insufficient funds for state schools and universities as
it is, but they must adhere to the government's educational
structure. private donors, including foreign groups, keep the new
schools and higher education establishments going. and that
worries the government.

foreign funds don't seem to be pouring in. representatives of the
french ministry of cooperation and development and of the catholic
church in france both said their organisations have greatly
reduced ties with educational efforts in zaire because of that
governments's role in education.

bisimwa said the university at bukavu and other catholic groups
in zaire charge student fees and attract donations from local
businesses and from some foreign organisations and universities.
it has fund raising representatives in belgium, the former
colonial power france, britain, italy, switzerland and canada.

despite the trials of establishing a university under present
economic and political conditions in zaire, bismwa said bukavu has
the human resources to succeed.

''we want to be useful for the development of our region,'' he
said. ''and we are making a university of excellence, teaching to
a very high level.''(end/ips/cd/bb/mf/93)
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