ÉVALUATION DE LA SITUATION DE LA PAIE DES AGENTS PUBLICS DE L’ÉTAT : CAS DES ENSEIGNANTS

Peaceful start to the school year: Government orders payroll agencies to settle all outstanding teacher salaries starting this Monday On the eve of the start of the school year, scheduled for Tuesday, January 6, 2026, concerns remained among teachers, as some had not yet received their salaries. Having been made aware of the situation, Prime Minister Judith Suminwa took urgent measures to ensure a smooth and effective resumption of classes throughout the country. She instructed the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Service, Jean-Pierre Lihau, accompanied by the Minister of State, Minister of National Education and New Citizenship, Raïssa Malu, to convene a tripartite working session on Saturday, January 3, 2026, bringing together representatives from the teachers' union, government sector experts involved in the payroll process, and payroll agencies. Objective: To examine the malfunctions observed in the teacher payment system, identify responsibilities, and define immediate corrective measures to ensure a smooth start to the school year. This working session clearly established that the Government has regularly disbursed all funds allocated for teacher salaries for every month of 2025. The delays observed in certain areas of the country are therefore attributable to operational failures within the structures responsible for payroll processing, and not to a lack of state funding. In response to this situation, the Government has urgently ordered all paying agencies to proceed, without delay, with the full payment of salary arrears and bonuses owed to teachers, starting at the beginning of the week of January 5, 2026. Reacting to the conclusion of the working session, the President and Spokesperson for the National Education Inter-Union Alliance welcomed the Government's clearly demonstrated political will to resolve this issue sustainably. He also called on teachers to return to school, while reassuring them that social dialogue would continue until the steps taken are fully completed.