An Innovative and Transformative Venture

Mission

Our mission is to educate bilingual ethical leaders of tomorrow, fluent in both French and English, trained in critical thinking skills and concerns for the common good, to become change-making entrepreneurs in their communities, the country and the globe.

Uniqueness of BSL

“Leadership” is a purely English-speaking creation and discipline before it was widespread in the intellectual, scientific and business worlds. BSL plans to train students who can read, write and express themselves in English from the first year of secondary school. This innovation is an important feature of BSL.

The school includes an optional dormitory system for students from the third year onward, which becomes a requirement for those in secondary school.

  1. BSL will acquire a modern school library and will use state-of-the-art teaching materials including laptops, iPod, Smart Boards, etc.
  2. BSL wants to be completely bilingual from the 1st year of secondary school
  3. BSL focuses on the field of leadership, providing students with leadership courses and activities at all levels
  4. BLS selects the best students in the country, with competitive tuition fees

However, a certain percentage of students will come from the poorest families in the region. The latter will be subsidized by BSL.

The project aims to create a modern bilingual school that trains students in social, scientific and technological disciplines as well as in leadership fields. The school consists of two cycles: primary and secondary.

The first three years of the primary cycle will be given exclusively in French while the other three primary years will each have a minimum of 4 hours of English per week. The secondary level will be fully bilingual.

Project Goals

  1. Construction of Primary and Secondary School
  2. Construction of student dorms, dining hall and teacher quarters
  3. Expansion to include an undergraduate degree in Entrepreneurship and Ethical Leadership

The 30-acre site of Bilingual School of Leadership of Kikwit is located 17 miles from the City of Kikwit, the headquarters of the Catholic Diocese of Kikwit, itself situated at 320 miles South West of Kinshasa the Capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The D.R. Congo, and particularly the region of Kikwit is faced with the urgent need to train an elite of tomorrow capable of participating in the challenges of the 21st century. The generalized economic crisis and the fall in the level of education throughout the country have diminished the capacity of Kikwit to educate the elite of the region and the country. The Diocese of Kikwit has 4 diocesan school districts that are responsible for more or less 450 Catholic primary and secondary schools. The town of Kikwit itself and the surrounding areas have about 12 primary and secondary schools that are holding firm and using traditional teaching methods based on rote memorization.

For this, we envisage the construction of a private campus, which will house the “Bilingual School of Leadership of Kikwit” or BSL. BSL will have a private primary and secondary school in Leadership and Computer Science and a Leadership Training Center. BSL intends to work with schools in the USA to address the decline in educational standards in the region of Kikwit and the D.R. Congo through a strict selection of quality bilingual teachers and intellectually capable students who will be tested across all provinces of the country. BSL will supplement traditional course offering with a modern IT infrastructure and rigorous teaching in critical thinking and leadership. BSL’s location on the National-1 Highway and 17 miles from Kikwit allows for easy access for students from Kikwit and other provinces. BSL offers parents the choice a dormitory, semi-dormitory and commute system for their children. This project concerns Phase-1 of the entire construction plan.

A Three-Phase Project

  • Phase 1 of this project consists of the construction of the following units: (a) an administrative building with a multipurpose hall; (b) 24 classrooms divided into 2 blocks of 6 rooms on the ground floor and 2 blocks of 6 rooms on the first floor; c) 1 water borehole; (d) equipment of office and school materials (including library), and a 30-seat mini-bus for the transport of staff and pupils. This will allow the smooth start and operation of the school (See Construction Plans)
  • Phase 2 includes the construction of 16 villas for teachers, 8 dormitories for students, 1 refectory and sports fields (See Construction Plans)
  • Phase 3 (Higher Education). Phase 3 will consist of the construction of higher learning facilities.

BSL will have to collaborate with the academic and administrative institutions of Kikwit, the country and the USA. BSL will select the best bilingual and capable nationals from the University of Kikwit, Bandundu University, the University and the Pedagogical Institute of Kikwit to be part of its teaching staff. As a leadership school, BSL will train and engage religious, academic, political and social leaders for coaching and training sessions particularly in the field of leadership ethics.

Future autonomy

The Bilingual School of Leadership of Kikwit will not depend exclusively on school fees for its operation and self-sustainability. Besides fund-raising and corporate support, BSL will use five forms of self-financing sources: 1) school fees and participation in leadership training sessions; 2) a percentage of the boarding fees (when the dormitories are operational); 3) the cost of renting teachers’ villas; 4) the sale of agricultural and market garden products grown on the BSL land. 5) Out of its 30-acre-land, BSL has dedicated 5 acres to a plantation of South African Eucalyptus that will serve for reforestation, construction and sales.

Specific Questions and Answers

1. What educational needs does the project aim to address?
BSL responds to three major professional needs of the moment: the need of ethical religious, political, social and community leaders in the country and on the continent; the need for English as a language of transactions both nationally and internationally; the need for modern technologies required for career advancement.  We plan to gradually admit 24 students per class for a maximum total of 864 students throughout the school. There will be 9 new classes per year. BSL will gradually admit 216 students each year for 4 years for a total of 864 students for the whole school.

2. Are there other public or private schools working in the same District/Territory?
The Diocese of Kikwit has 4 diocesan school districts that oversee 700 schools, but none offers the bilingual or leadership capacities that serve to prepare students to take charge of personal destinies. In Kikwit and within 60 kilometers of Kikwit, there are primary and secondary schools, but do not have bilingual computer science, leadership or education options. None focuses student learning on critical thinking. BLS also plans to support 10% of bright students from poor families to educate them to critical thinking, leadership and new technology capabilities.

3. What are the educational programs and what is the academic structure?Classes will gradually increase over 4 years. BLS will have a primary cycle (12 classes), 4 secondary cycles: general pedagogical (4 classes), math-physics (4 classes), biology-chemistry (4 classes). literary (4 classes) and a computer cycle (8 classes). In addition to the national course curriculum, all classes will have 1 theoretical and practical leadership course per week. From the third primary to the 6th secondary. Classes will be taught in French and English.

4. What is the qualification level of teachers?Primary school teachers will have a minimum of a state diploma, a minimum of spoken English, a 5 years of teaching experience. Secondary school teachers will have a minimum of Bachelor in specific teaching disciplines (preference will be given to graduates), spoken and written English and at least 5 years of teaching. For the computer sciences cycle. The professors will be computer engineers and bilingual. The selection of teachers will be done at the local, national and international levels.

5. What are/will be the admission requirements for poor students?10% of the students will be orphans of father and mother or will come from poor families. The parish committees or school communities of Kikwit will recommend bright children without financial support or orphaned children that BSL will take care of using a percentage of school fees or donation and investment funds. These students will not pay school fees or food or transportation costs. As the means permit, they will receive 2 pairs of uniform free of charge.

6 What are the real possibilities of self-financing of the school?BSL will use the following forms of self-financing sources: 1) school fees and participation in leadership training sessions; 2) a percentage of the boarding fees (when  the dormitories are operational); 3) the rental costs of teachers’ villas; 4) the sale of agricultural and market gardening products grown on BSL land, including sales of the Eucalyptus logs; 5) computer laboratory user fees; 6) rental of leadership training rooms.

7. How is the school fit into the context of the country’s national education system?- BSL is recognized by the Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Vocational Education of the DRC by its Ministerial Order No MINEPOSP/4463 OF 03/12/2018.

  • Teaching will be beyond what the Congolese education system plans because BSL focuses on critical thinking, ethical leadership, bilingual education and advanced technologies.
  • BSL affiliation with American schools will be sought. Once affiliated, BSL finalists will be able to receive a U.S. homologated diploma called GED (General Education Diploma) rather than a Congolese state diploma.
  • As a private school, BSL  will provide a competitive salary and bonus to BSL teachers and staff.

About the Founder

A Catholic priest from the Diocese of Kikwit in the D.R. Congo, Fr. Jean-Pierre Bongila is a full professor of Educational Leadership at the University of S.t Thomas, MN The title of his upcoming book based on his yearlong sabbatical study in the D.R. Congo, Ghana and Uganda is: Leading under Duress. How Exceptional Teachers Thrive in Africa. JPBongila@stthomas.edu