The final secondary school exams of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) began this week after a two-month delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
No fewer than 600,000 students are sitting for the four-day examinations across the country where over half of the 80 million population is aged under 20.
The school year in the Democratic Republic of Congo has 220 days but was severely disrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic which wreaked havoc on the school calendar in the country.
The examinations follow government reports of declining hospital occupancy rates in Kinshasa, the epicentre of the country’s third wave. On Monday, the DR Congo official COVID-19 report showed the country had reported 54,508 infections with 1,057 deaths so far.
More than 86,914 vaccine doses have been administered in the country as the government continues its efforts to contain the virus.