Why is French used as the language of education in the Republic of the Congo?

The use of French as the language of instruction in the Republic of the Congo is a legacy of the country's history as a French colony.12

Following the establishment of French Equatorial Africa in 1910, with its capital at Brazzaville, colonial educational policy was explicitly designed to expand the influence of the French language to establish French culture and nationality in the region. Education served the dual purpose of training indigenous staff to assist in colonial administration and bringing the local population closer to French ways of life.23

Even after the Republic of the Congo achieved independence in 1960, the traditional French educational model persisted. While some post-independence curricular reforms were introduced—such as the Africanization of history and geography—French remained the official language and the primary medium of instruction. Today, it continues to function as the language of the upper classes, administration, and formal education, while indigenous Bantu languages and trade languages like Lingala and Kituba are used for intergroup communication and trade.231