From 27 September to 6 October 2026, Mbanza-Ngungu hosted a workshop on updating the teacher's guide and developing standards for the national life education programme. The work aimed to incorporate positive masculinity values into all programme tools for several stages of schooling.
Revising the tools used by teachers
The workshop focused on teaching materials. Updating a guide means reviewing the guidance available to teachers and how classroom content is approached. Developing standards pursued the same purpose: making positive masculinity part of educational tools beyond occasional awareness sessions.
This raises a practical question for schools. How can children learn to build relationships based on respect and equality, while rejecting violence? Including these values in life education materials concerns both the messages pupils receive and the educational practices that accompany them.
Several stages of schooling
The work covered the elementary, middle and final stages of primary school, as well as the final stage of basic education. It addressed all programme tools for these levels, with attention to the progression of learning.
The educational stakes extend beyond the workshop. Ideas about the roles of girls and boys take shape early; school materials can help pupils question them. The teacher's guide and standards under development offer ways to include positive masculinity in everyday teaching.
The accompanying photographs show participants working with documents, laptops and projected presentations during the workshop in Mbanza-Ngungu.
Photographs from the workshop
