This study investigates the impact of multilingualism on cognitive development and academic performance among secondary school students in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Employing a quantitative research design, the study sampled 102 students from both monolingual and bilingual educational settings. Data were collected using a standardized cognitive assessment questionnaire and academic records and analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) with descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that bilingual students outperformed monolingual peers in academic performance across the last semester and the previous academic year. However, bilingual students also reported higher levels of cognitive failures, including forgetfulness, distractibility, and false triggering. Inferential statistics indicated significant differences between monolingual and bilingual students in both academic outcomes and cognitive development components, with distractibility emerging as a key predictor of academic performance. These findings suggest that while bilingualism may enhance academic achievement, it also introduces cognitive challenges, potentially due to institutional factors within private bilingual schools. The study emphasizes the need for structured support systems in multilingual educational environments to optimize cognitive and academic development.

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