Eight out of ten girls and seven out of ten boys aged 12 to 18 said they had been subjected to verbal, psychological, physical, financial violence or harassment at their school, according to a study just conducted by the UN Fund. for children (Unicef) of 6,000 students working in at least ten full-fledged municipalities.
as reported from Brazzaville, Loïcia Martial
Merveille is a fifth-year student and is 12 years old. She works at a general education school located south of Brazzaville where she notices things that are outside of her.
“In our school there are fights; there are people who insult each other and argue. There are teachers who do not respect girls: they touch their breasts and buttocks. They are harassing them, ”the student testified.
For Micaela Marques de Souza, UNICEF’s representative in the Congo, violence is a sad reality in Congolese schools. “Violence is something that has already become a public health problem,” she says.
Students request a toll-free number
Combating violence is a daily job, admits Anatole Collinet Makosso, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, who lists some measures taken to address this situation.
“Work is in progress. We are supported by the friends of the security services. You have noticed that we have presented police stations in several schools “, the government member specifies.
The Unicef report was released during a high-level dialogue. On this occasion, the students asked the authorities to set up a toll-free number in each facility so that they could condemn acts of violence.
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