Nepalese peacekeepers escorted twenty-five final-year secondary school students – including eight girls – along with three supervisors from three secondary schools in Gina to Bunia, where they will sit, starting this Monday, May 4, for the preliminary tests of the State Exam – the equivalent of the baccalaureate in the Congo.
The principals of these three schools had requested this support to allow their students to travel safely to their examination centers. Gina has recently been the scene of violent armed clashes that caused numerous civilian casualties.
After the exams, which will end on May 7, the group will be taken back to Gina, again under the escort of MONUSCO peacekeepers.
More broadly, the UN mission is providing support to help keep schools open and safe, and to create a protective environment for children and educational staff in the face of the security challenges affecting Ituri.
MONUSCO has thus carried out the Safe Schooling operation to ensure a protective environment for more than 11,500 students across Ituri province.
This Monday, May 4, final-year secondary school students will take their essay exam, which marks the beginning of the preliminary tests of the State Exam, certifying the end of secondary education.
