Partner since:
Total grant support: US$376,690,712
GPE 2025 grant eligibility:
Partnership Compact
Priority: Transform education through competent, motivated and available teachers, while ensuring the inclusivity of education.
Coordinating agency: Commonwealth and Development Office, UNICEF
Engagement lead: Jennifer Hofmann
Since joining GPE in 2012, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has increased the primary school completion rate from 29% to 70%. Still, many students enrolled in primary school do not complete it, and around one-in-five of primary age children are out of school.
For those in school, 73% are not proficient in reading and 81% are not proficient in math. To unlock large-scale change, DRC is working with GPE and other partners to improve the quality of teachers and teaching.
Better trained and supported teachers – and an increase in the number of female teachers – are expected to enhance the learning environment, boost student performance, and create a more resilient education system.
The DRC aims to improve teachers’ mastery of disciplinary content as well as their ability to support vulnerable students. Additional measures to upgrade the profession include merit-based teacher recruitment, a quality assurance system, and improved social protections to support teacher retirement.
The government and partners are also improving infrastructure and equipment to make schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo a better place for teachers to work and for students to learn.
out-of-school rate for children of lower-secondary school age
of children start learning one year before entering primary school
of primary teachers have the minimum required qualifications
of government expenditure on education
(data as of November 11, 2026)
Type: System capacity
Years: 2026 - 2028
Allocation: US$999,997
Utilization: US$144,399
Grant agent: UNESCO
Type: System transformation and Girls' Education Accelerator
Years: 2024 - 2028
Allocation: US$137,500,000
Utilization: US$49,108,824
Grant agent: AFD, World Bank
As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting:
