Parents of the expelled children spoke with school administrators in an effort to resolve the problem but met with limited success. Consequently, the Witnesses pursued the matter with governmental authorities and found fair-minded officials who worked to put a stop to the religious discrimination.

In 2011, Mme. Bazizane Maheshe, the Minister of Education for North Kivu Province, published a provincial circular entitled “Ban Placed on Discrimination Based on Religion,” which described the situation as “deplorable.” The circular addressed the issue clearly by stating: “Students of some religious confessions are subject to discrimination based on internal school rules in disregard of regulations in force in the DR Congo.”

The issue received national attention on September 4, 2013, when Mwangu Famba, the Minister of Education for the Democratic Republic of Congo, published a decree applying to all schools in all districts. The “Circular on the Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Religion” unequivocally stated: “All children have the right to apply to any school without adverse distinction based on religion.” The decree also stated that expulsion of students on religious grounds was “in total violation of the standards and laws in force in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Many schools have obeyed the official directives and have welcomed Witness students back into the classroom. A few schools, however, have resisted. Thus, on June 12, 2014, the Ministry of Education published a memorandum reinforcing the September 2013 decree and citing the new framework law on education that was issued by the President of the DRC. This reminder addressed the root cause of the problem by highlighting the importance of fighting discrimination and stressed the primacy of national and international laws over internal school rules. The Minister of Education also appointed investigators to visit schools throughout the country to ensure that they abide by the decree. No doubt, these measures taken by the government will bring long-standing, positive results.