The students of the Higher Institute of Applied Techniques (ISTA) in Kinshasa organized a demonstration on Wednesday June 7 to protest against the sudden increase in the registration fee to participate in the next exam session. Fees were reduced from 10,000 FC to 10 US dollars, and this created outrage among students with financial difficulties.
The students also complained about having to pay any money to the company “Trans Academia”. This situation caused scuffles at the entrance of the higher education establishment and the police were deployed to disperse the demonstrators.
The Academic General Secretariat of ISTA-Kinshasa announced, the same day, that the start of the exams scheduled for Wednesday June 7 is postponed to Monday June 12, 2023.
However, to participate in this exam session, you must have paid at least the first installment of the study fees and the enrollment fee. This situation sparked a wave of indignation on social networks where several Internet users expressed their solidarity with the students.
This event takes place in a context of severe economic and social crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and frequent social movements in the various sectors of society.