DR Congo Classrooms reopened this week in parts of eastern Congo hit hardest by Ebola, after officials reversed a plan to move high-risk schools online.
The decision came despite the outbreak surpassing 3,000 deaths, according to government figures released Wednesday. The current toll makes this the deadliest Ebola epidemic in Congo’s history, with a fatality rate of 48.6% and cases confirmed across six provinces.
More than 1,000 schools in Ituri province are in “red zones” marked by active transmission, a ministry document showed. On August 19, the education ministry had ordered those schools to shift to distance learning — handing out worksheets every two weeks and running radio and TV lessons.
That plan was scrapped. An education ministry official, who asked not to be named, said provincial authorities pushed for in-person classes to keep students from falling behind peers elsewhere.
“If we get a case, we will close and switch to remote learning,” the official said. “For now, that’s not happening.”
The same approach is being used in parts of North Kivu and South Kivu controlled by Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebels, a rebel official said. There, authorities are enforcing hand-washing stations and social distancing in classrooms.
The outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Worry is still high among parents. In Beni, North Kivu — which accounts for 868 of the country’s 6,186 confirmed cases — La Reine Vahwere sent her three children to school with disinfectant.
“I told them not to touch classmates,” she said. “I’ll also ask the school to keep desks spaced out. It would be heartbreaking if a child got sick at school while we’re careful at home.”
As students arrived, staff directed them to sanitize hands and pointed out wash basins and toilet paper. The ministry official said hygiene kits have been delivered to red-zone schools.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people.
