Middle and high schools in Mayotte will reopen next week, eight months after cyclone Chido killed at least 50 people and wrecked classrooms across the French overseas department. Education Minister Elisabeth Borne, visiting the Indian Ocean archipelago, promised lessons would resume "in the same conditions as before the cyclone."
Borne toured several schools on Monday and spoke of "significant progress" in repairing buildings.
The French overseas department was ravaged by cyclone Chido which swept through in December 2024, killing at least 50 people and causing considerable material damage.
At Younoussa-Bamana High School in Mamoudzou, 57 of 66 classrooms are now operational. "We will welcome students in the same conditions as before the cyclone," Borne said during her visit.
Construction manager Bruno Ulrich said he hoped to finish all repairs by 26 August, but admitted "there's still a lot to do" because of shortages of materials.
In the meantime, modular classrooms have been set up near unfinished blocks. At Majicavo-Lamir kindergarten in the north east of Grande-Terre island, eight prefabricated buildings are being used to host pupils from a neighbouring primary school destroyed by the storm.
The mayor of Majicavo-Lamir, Assani Saindou Bamcolo, said rebuilding had been slowed by a lack of funding.
Borne said that "90 percent of students will be able to attend a normal schedule of 24 hours of classes per week." The remaining 10 percent would start with 10 hours a week before gradually returning to full schedules.
At M'gombani Middle School in Mamoudzou, Borne met students taking part in the "Learning Holidays" programme, a week of preparatory lessons "to get the best possible start to the year".
France approves €4bn plan to rebuild Mayotte and tighten migration rules
Unions, parents disappointed
Parents’ groups and teachers’ unions disputed the minister’s optimism.
The FCPE 976 parents’ organisation refused to attend the visit, saying schools "are not ready." In a letter to Borne, the group said 15,000 children – one in four – were still unable to attend classes.
"What our children are experience is not a fleeting problem. It's a national shame," the signatories wrote.
SNES-FSU teachers’ union general secretary Sophie Vénétitay also voiced concern. "There are still colleagues who have not received the exceptional Chido bonus (...) And little has been done regarding attractiveness," she told French news agency AFP.
How overseas Mayotte became 'a department apart' within France
Many in Mayotte have long felt neglected by France's central government, and the devastation caused by cyclone Chido has deepened those frustrations.
Chronic underinvestment in infrastructure and public services has exacerbated the crisis.
Currently 77 percent of people live below the national poverty line and payments such as the minimum income benefit RSA remain half as high as in the rest of France.
In July, France's Senate approved a bill to rebuild Mayotte, which includes €4 billion in public investment over six years.
It also aims to increase social benefits in Mayotte to match mainland France by 2031.
The Constitutional Council cleared the bill earlier this month despite objections from Socialist, far-left and Green MPs. The law also tightens immigration rules and targets informal housing.
(with AFP)
