Teaching through conflict: How CORE is restoring hope to teachers in Eastern DRC

23 Oct 2026

In Masisi, a War Child methodology demonstrates how teacher psychosocial wellbeing can be measured and strengthened, even under pressure.

A crisis that reached the classroom

For more than three decades, the province of North-Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has lived through a chronic security crisis fueled by dozens of armed groups, land and intercommunal tensions, and the rivalry of regional actors. In the territories of Masisi, Rutshuru and Minova, armed conflict, mass displacement and natural disasters have had a devastating impact on the education sector and on children’s learning. Schools have been looted or damaged, classrooms are overwhelmed by the arrival of displaced pupils, and teachers are forced to work without respite despite irregular incomes.

Since January 2025, the situation has sharply deteriorated. An armed group, the Movement du 23 mars (M23), took control of the city of Goma and eventually most of the Masisi territory. State services have been reduced or suspended; the salaries of public servants - including teachers - are no longer paid regularly; roads are subject to multiple checkpoints, and humanitarian access is restricted. In this environment, teachers remain on the front line, continuing to teach in overcrowded schools, crossing insecure areas daily to reach their classrooms, and carrying their own psychological burden whilst working to support students marked by war, displacement, and loss.

Olive is a fourth-grade teacher from Hodari Primary School. She recalls the mental toll that conflict took on teachers and children alike.

During this time of conflict everyone is stressed. We teachers are stressed, the children are stressed, and our senior students are stressed too.

Olive, a fourth-grade teacher in Masisi

The consortium response — an Education Cannot Wait supported project

In October 2025, War Child and World Vision International began working with local organisation Village d’Espoir (VESP) on a project to remove barriers to education, support children and young people to return to school, learn in safer spaces, and catch up on missed classes. The project was funded by Education Cannot Wait (ECW).

The response acknowledged a simple but often overlooked premise: a teacher who is traumatised, exhausted, or demotivated cannot offer a protective learning environment to children. Therefore, any investment in education should consider the wellbeing of the adults who deliver it. This is the gap that CORE was designed to fill, and why the consortium chose to deliver the methodology to the teachers of Masisi. As a small pilot within the broader project, War Child and partners explored the feasibility of CORE in the DRC context before considering wider implementation in the country.

The CORE methodology

CORE is an evidence-informed methodology designed by War Child to support teachers affected by conflict to improve their wellbeing, manage stress, and strengthen the social and emotional skills they need to be effective teachers. It combines weekly group-based workshops with individualised, practical support. Coaches delivering the methodology are thoroughly trained and work with teachers to create a safe space where confidentiality is always respected.

Measurable change in five months

To measure whether teacher wellbeing has improved through CORE, we use 14 standardised indicators: optimism and resilience; relational wellbeing; self-esteem and autonomy; and energy and stress management. Each indicator is tracked through questions and answers gathered through focus groups at the start and end of the project.

In September 2026, War Child surveyed the 140 teachers that participated in the Education Cannot Wait funded project. Results showed that in just five months, all 14 indicators of psychosocial wellbeing had improved. "Ability to think clearly” jumped from 17.9% to 39.3%, and “sense of happiness” doubled from 20% to 41.4%. “Optimism about the future” - the weakest indicator at the start of the project - rose from 41.4% to 59.3%.

What makes these figures remarkable is the context in which they were achieved. Throughout the project, the region remained under the M23 control; salaries of public employees did not improve, and movement remained restricted. This demonstrates that regular and structured psychosocial support can still have a powerful impact on wellbeing, even in challenging environments.

Olive with a student at the primary school where she teaches

“This CORE support really helped us a lot. It first helped us to recognise our own stresses. When we realised it wasn't only teachers who carry stress, it also helped us recognise the stresses of the students” says Olive.

We were taught again how to live as teachers, and how to understand our work. It helped us run our class sessions and manage how to live with our senior students and other teachers, some of whom were in the midst of conflict and were also stressed.

From teacher wellbeing to children’s learning

Directors from participating schools have reported tangible improvements in punctuality and attendance, a drop in tensions in staff rooms, and a return to collaborative lesson preparation in their classes. Four schools have even introduced “calm mornings” during exam periods, teaching pupils the same breathing techniques that proved to be successful for teachers.

The way forward

In DRC, as in many contexts affected by conflict, teachers face a multitude of external factors such as a lack of food, sleep, transport, and income, which all have an impact on teachers' energy levels and stress.

CORE doesn't promise to remove these external factors, but what it can do is help teachers learn how to manage their stress and emotions in the midst of these challenges. Read the latest research publication for CORE here.

Moving forward, more support is still urgently needed to help the people of eastern DRC, and to remove the barriers for children in accessing quality education. Humanitarian access must not be restricted, and essential state services must be funded. War Child, together with our partners, remain committed to supporting children affected by conflict in DRC to learn, play, and thrive.

The Education Cannot Wait funded project began in October 2025. It was a consortium project led by War Child with World Vision International and implemented by War Child partner Village d’Espoir (VESP).

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