Educational Legacies of Christian Missions: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Pierre Donat-Bouillud (), Coralie Hirschi () and Etienne Le Rossignol ()
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Pierre Donat-Bouillud: Czech Technical University in Prague, Northeasterm University, https://sites.google.com/site/capelleblancard/
Coralie Hirschi: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, CNRS, IRD, Centre d'Econonomie de la Sorbonne, https://centredeconomiesorbonne.cnrs.fr
Etienne Le Rossignol: Université de Namur

Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne from Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne

Abstract: This paper investigates the educational legacies of Christian missions established before independence, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, focusing on contemporary disparities in educational content, quality, access, and outcomes. Using georeferenced data from over 20,000 schools and two million students participating in the Examen National d'Etat (Exetat) between 2016 and 2019, as well as primary data from a phone survey of 624 school directors, we explore how proximity to Catholic and Protestant missions during the colonial period influences educational opportunities today. We find that schools near historical Christian missions offer a broader and higher-quality curriculum, with increased access to study tracks outside the basic Pedagogy section. Students attending these schools are more likely to pass the Exetat and achieve grades qualifying for university admission, although the magnitude of the effect is modest. Supply-side factors, such as better infrastructure and more conducive school environments, explain half of the missionary proximity premium, while demand-side mechanisms, including students' sorting and selection account for additional variation. Our findings reveal that the strong partnership between missions and the colonial state entrenched spatial inequalities in educational access and quality, inequalities that persist to this day

Keywords: Christian Missions; Education; Democratic Republic of the Congo (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N9 O1 Z1 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 89 pages
Date: 2025-06
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http://mse.univ-paris1.fr/pub/mse/CES2025/25013.pdf (application/pdf)
https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05116796

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mse:cesdoc:25013

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