Determinants of Policy Efficiency of the Free Primary Education in Beni City, Democratic Republic of Congo

Authors

  • Roger Mumbere Kituku Africa International University
  • Dr. Patrick Kasyula Africa International University
  • Dr. Jane Kibanga Africa International University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t5377

Abstract

The study examined the determinants of policy efficiency of free primary education in Beni City. A mixed-methods research design was employed across 94 public schools. The study employed stratified random sampling to select 308 respondents from a target population of 1,491 individuals across 94 public schools in Beni City. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis, with both descriptive and inferential statistics applied using SPSS software. The findings revealed that the combined influence of legal frameworks, financial resources, monitoring systems, and security structures explained 62.8% of the variation in policy efficiency, demonstrating the multidimensional nature of implementation challenges. Regression analysis indicated that financial resources exerted the strongest influence (β = 0.322, p = 0.000), followed by security structures (β = 0.307, p = 0.000), legal frameworks (β = 0.237, p = 0.000), and monitoring systems (β = 0.086, p = 0.035). Respondents identified significant inadequacies across all four determinants, with particular concerns regarding insufficient budget allocations, weak legal enforcement mechanisms, and ineffective monitoring frameworks. The study concludes that legal frameworks, financial resources, monitoring systems, and security structures are all positively and significantly related to policy efficiency of free primary education in Beni City, with these four variables collectively explaining the majority of factors influencing successful policy implementation in this conflict-affected region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study recommends comprehensive reforms including strengthening legal frameworks through detailed legislation, substantially increasing financial allocations with improved disbursement mechanisms, redesigning monitoring systems with clear oversight and accountability structures, and enhancing security measures tailored to educational contexts. By addressing these interconnected factors, policymakers can improve implementation efficiency and achieve equitable access to quality education for all children in Beni City and similar contexts within the DRC.

Keywords: Legal frameworks, financials resources, monitoring systems, security, free primary education,  Beni city, Democratic Republic of Congo

Author Biographies

Roger Mumbere Kituku, Africa International University

Postgraduate student, Africa International University

Dr. Patrick Kasyula , Africa International University

Lecturer, School of Business and Economics, Africa International University

Dr. Jane Kibanga, Africa International University

Lecturer, School of Business and Economics, Africa International University

References

Abuya, B. A., Oketch, M., & Musyoka, P. K. (2015). Free primary education and implementation in Kenya. SAGE Open, 5(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015571488

Ali, N., Sharma, S., & Zaman, A. (2017). School culture and school policy efficiency: Secondary schools in Pakistan. MOJEM: Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Management, 4(4), 50-65. https://doi.org/10.22452/mojem.vol4no4.4

Al-Makura, A. H. M. (2021). The challenges and effects of violent conflict on development: A study of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [Doctoral dissertation, Baze University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Anderson, J. E. (1997). Public policy-making: An introduction (3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin.

Atkinson, A. B., & Stiglitz, J. E. (1980). Lectures on public economics (pp. 56-78). McGraw-Hill.

Aziz, T., Kanwal, W., Syed, M. A., Nazak, N., Zaman, Z., & Mahmood, K. (2021). Role of monitoring and evaluation system in institutional development at secondary level in Punjab. Multicultural Education, 7(6), 112-126.

Beluhu, R. D. (2020). The effect of monitoring and evaluation framework on development project in education bureau in Somali Regional State in case of Jig-jiga Branch. International Journal of Social, Humanities and Administrative Sciences, 6(34), 2150-2161. https://doi.org/10.31589/JOSHAS.476

Birkland, T. A. (2015). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and models of public policy making (4th ed.). Routledge.

Bonal, X. (2016). Education, poverty and the world crisis. In World Education Forum 2015 (pp. 45-51). UNESCO.

Cockburn, J., & Kabubo-Mariara, J. (2010). Child welfare in developing countries (pp. 135-142). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6275-1

Cohen, J. F., Hecht, A. A., McLoughlin, G. M., Turner, L., & Schwartz, M. B. (2021). Universal school meals and associations with student participation, attendance, academic performance, diet quality, food security, and body mass index: A systematic review. Nutrients, 13(3), 911-918.

Council of Europe. (1966). International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/international-covenant-on-economic-social-and-cultural-rights

Datzberger, S. (2018). Why education is not helping the poor: Findings from Uganda. World Development, 110, 124-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.05.022

De Herdt, T., & Munongo, K. (2012). Free primary education in the DRC: Expectations and realities. Journal of International Development, 24(7), 1041-1051.

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147-160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101

Donaldson, L. (2001). The contingency theory of organizations (pp. 67-73). Sage Publications.

Easton, D. (1953). The political system: An inquiry into the state of political science (pp. 78-82). Knopf.

Ganimian, A. J. (2016). Why do some school-based management reforms survive and others disappear? The case of the EDUCO model in El Salvador. International Journal of Educational Development, 51, 33-43.

Generis Global Legal Services. (2024). Understanding education regulations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Private vs. public institutions. https://generisonline.com/understanding-education-regulations-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-private-vs-public-institutions/

Glewwe, P., Siameh, C., Sun, B., & Wisniewski, S. (2021). School resources and educational outcomes in developing countries. In The Routledge handbook of the economics of education (pp. 218-252). Routledge.

GPE Secretariat. (2024). Democratic Republic of Congo's pathway to education system transformation. Global Partnership for Education. https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/democratic-republic-congos-pathway-education-system-transformation

Heymann, J., Levy, J. K., Bose, B., Ríos-Salas, V., Mekonen, Y., Swaminathan, H., Omidakhsh, N., Gadoth, A., Huh, K., Greene, M. E., & Gupta, G. R. (2019). Improving health with programmatic, legal, and policy approaches to reduce gender inequality and change restrictive gender norms. The Lancet, 3(19), 252-259.

Hörner, W., & Döbert, H. (2007). The education systems of Europe (pp. 212-216). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4874-2

Imbile, J. N. (2019). Les défis de l'enseignement primaire gratuit en République démocratique du Congo [The challenges of free primary education in the Democratic Republic of Congo]. Éditions Universitaires Européennes.

Israel, G. D. (2013). Determining sample size (pp. 6-9). University of Florida IFAS Extension. https://www.tarleton.edu/academicassessment/documents/Samplesize.pdf

Javed, M. L., Inayat, M., & Javed, M. N. (2021). Monitoring and evaluation system in education: An overview of elementary schools. Review of Applied Management and Social Sciences, 4(4), 837-847.

Kaps, R. W. (1997). Air transport labor relations (pp. 67-71). Southern Illinois University Press.

Kiełek, K. (2022). The importance of safety and security in urban space (pp. 23-27). https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2022.1063

King, S., & Bracy, N. L. (2019). School security in the post-Columbine era: Trends, consequences, and future directions. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 35(3), 274-295. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986219840188

Kodila‐Tedika, O., & Otchia, C. S. (2022). The effects of free primary education in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A difference‐in‐differences approach. Review of Development Economics, 26(4), 2109-2120. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12922

Larrue, C., & Varone, F. (2005). Analysis and management of public policies (pp. 120-122).

Law, K. M., Geng, S., & Li, T. (2019). Student enrollment, motivation and learning performance in a blended learning environment: The mediating effects of social, teaching, and cognitive presence. Computers & Education, 136, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.02.021

Lawrence, P. R., & Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Organization and environment: Managing differentiation and integration (pp. 112-116). Harvard Business School Press.

Madden, W., Green, S., & Grant, A. M. (2020). A pilot study evaluating strengths‐based coaching for primary school students: Enhancing engagement and hope. In Coaching researched: A coaching psychology reader (pp. 297-312). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119656913.ch16

Mahnaz, W., Kiran, S., Mehmood, U., Arif, S., & Taqdees, N. (2023). Effects of regular monitoring of monitoring evaluation assistant (MEAs) on the quality of schools: A case study of Tehsil Jand District Attock, Punjab. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 7(6), 967-980.

Mann, M. (1986). The sources of social power: Volume 1, a history of power from the beginning to AD 1760 (pp. 145-147). Cambridge University Press.

March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1984). The new institutionalism: Organizational factors in political life. American Political Science Review, 78(3), 734-749.

Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340-363. https://doi.org/10.1086/226550

Michael, J. L., & Hart, P. (2019). Integration and implementation insights: What makes government policy successful? (pp. 56-59).

Ministry of Primary and Technical Education of the DRC. (2023). SSEF reform 2: Free basic education (pp. 12-15).

Musgrave, R. A. (1959). The theory of public finance: A study in public economy (pp. 167-170). McGraw-Hill.

Oates, W. E. (1972). Fiscal federalism (pp. 124-126). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Otley, D. (2016). The contingency theory of management accounting and control: 1980-2014. Management Accounting Research, 31, 45-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2016.02.001

Rabin, J. (2003). Encyclopedia of public administration and public policy (pp. 115-117). Marcel Dekker.

Rahi, S. (2017). Research design and methods: A systematic review of research paradigms, sampling issues and instruments development. International Journal of Economics & Management Sciences, 6(2), 1-5.

Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing education policy (pp. 112-116). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203867396

Rosen, H. S., & Gayer, T. (2014). Public finance (10th ed., pp. 156-158). McGraw-Hill.

Scott, W. R. (2008). Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests (3rd ed., pp. 78-80). Sage Publications.

Selznick, P. (1949). TVA and the grass roots: A study in the sociology of formal organization (pp. 45-48). University of California Press.

Stiglitz, J. E. (2015). The role of government in economic development (pp. 34-36). World Bank.

The World Bank. (2024). Statement on development policy lending for Democratic Republic of Congo (pp. 3-5).

Tilak, J. B. (2007). Elementary education: Free and compulsory in India: Cost and financing (pp. 67-69). UNESCO.

United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Varone, F., Jacob, S., & Bundi, P. (Eds.). (2023). Handbook of public policy evaluation (pp. 112-114). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Vivuya, B. (2021). In 2019, the Democratic Republic of Congo introduced free education; here's what happened. https://www.equaltimes.org/in-2019-the-democratic-republic-of?lang=fr

Wambugu, J., & Mokoena, S. (2013). Education financing in Kenya: Parents' perceptions about the implementation of the cost-sharing policy in secondary school education. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(13), 441-452. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p441

World Bank. (2024). Democratic Republic of Congo: Expanding and equipping primary school classrooms for better learning outcomes [Press release]. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/02/28/democratic-republic-of-congo-afe-expanding-and-equipping-primary-school-classrooms-for-better-learning-outcomes

Yamane, T. (1973). Statistics: An introductory analysis (3rd ed., pp. 124-126). Harper and Row.

Downloads

Published

2025-08-05

How to Cite

Kituku, R. M., Kasyula , P., & Kibanga, J. (2025). Determinants of Policy Efficiency of the Free Primary Education in Beni City, Democratic Republic of Congo. Journal of Public Policy & Governance, 9(1), 86–106. https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t5377

Issue

Section

Articles