The public in the Democratic Republic of Congo has never expected efficiency from their government, especially when it comes to processing examination results. This is why the recent speed of marking exams has been controversial.

Traditionally, marking those scripts took at least 30 days. In some years, people did not see results for over three months.

The unprecedented speed with which final secondary school exams were marked this month has surprised the public, with the Ministry of National Education beginning to publish results just three days after the exams ended. This unusually swift turnaround prompted the Minister of Education, Raïssa Malu Dinanga, to provide an explanation to the Council of Ministers and President Félix Tshisekedi.

During the 54th Council of Ministers meeting on August 15, Malu attributed this record-breaking timeframe to major technological innovations introduced by her ministry. These measures, she explained, were designed to enhance the transparency, credibility and integrity of the assessment process.

She outlined the features, performance and effectiveness of the artificial intelligence system that had been deployed. The Congolese government says these innovations were intended to tackle persistent challenges such as cheating and data manipulation, with the ultimate goal of restoring trust in national examinations.

According to her, integrating artificial intelligence enabled sweeping digital reforms. This included establishing modern provincial scanning centres in selected provinces, reducing result processing times by 30–40 percent and lowering logistical costs. Furthermore, AI-driven technology was used to automate the marking of exam papers, improving the reliability and consistency of results and increasing processing speed tenfold. Scanning capacity increased dramatically from eight to ten papers per minute under the previous system to an impressive 80 to 100 papers per minute.

“Despite these technological strides, every critical stage remains subject to rigorous human verification,” she added. “Inspectors work tirelessly, day and night, to carry out this essential double-checking process, ensuring both speed and reliability.”