DR CONGO: Nearly 100 'non-viable' universities shut

28 November 2010

A total of 98 higher education institutions have been closed in five provinces following an audit and an inquiry into their 'viability', reported Infos Plus of Libreville, Gabon.

They were among 295 institutions inspected in the past three months on criteria of quality of infrastructure, provision of laboratories, facilities, specialised libraries, qualification of human resources and study programmes.

Students who had been attending them would be sent to other institutions when they had taken admission tests. Academic, scientific and administrative staff would be assigned elsewhere after their records had been checked, or transferred to other universities in the public sector, said Infos Plus.

The Minister of Higher Education, Professor Léonard Mashako Mamba, announced the audit in October 2009 to ascertain the viability of public and private universities and institutes with the aim of laying foundations for quality higher education.

Infos Plus reported that last April Mamba had ordered the closure of 47 institutions judged 'non viable' out of 100 in the capital Kinshasa, of which three were in the public sector, and 44 in the private sector.

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