2023-09-14 19:39:35
Classrooms that are real furnaces, flooded corridors, schools where there are sometimes very many contract workers… It’s difficult to imagine what is happening in many schools in overseas departments and regions (Drom )*. The FSU-SNUipp, the main primary school union, once again denounces this sad reality this Thursday, after launching at the end of August, on social networks, a public opinion alert campaign entitled “School in sub-France” .
Because despite the obligation to attend school at age 3 since the law of July 26, 2019, some overseas children remain at the door of the Republic’s school. The number of out-of-school minors in Mayotte was estimated at more than 15,000 by the Defender of Rights in September. In Guyana, between 5,900 (INSEE study, 2023) and 10,000 young people (report from the Court of Auditors, 2020) would be deprived of it. “Faced with a wide variation in counting methods, we need to create an Observatory of non-schooling. Especially since it is very difficult to identify out-of-school students who live in slums or squats,” explains Céline Hein, education advocacy officer at Unicef France.
Difficult teaching conditions
This lack of access to school can be explained by several reasons: poor public transport, families who live too far from establishments, etc. “Some town halls also refuse to enroll children in school due to a lack of school infrastructure, even though demographic pressure is strong in these areas,” underlines Céline Hein.
And even when children have access to school, their learning conditions are not satisfactory. First of all because the condition of the buildings is degraded. “Hygiene and safety instructions are not respected. We note the presence of mosquitoes, rats, bats. In the classrooms, electrical wires are visible, chairs are damaged and can injure students. There are sometimes floods or untimely water cuts,” says Suley Jair, departmental secretary of FSU-SNUipp in Guyana. Jennifer Louis-Joseph, departmental secretary of FSU-SNUipp in Martinique, also notes safety problems in her academy: “25% of classes do not respect seismic standards. And the rooms are rarely air-conditioned.”
70% of Drom schools are not equipped with computer equipment
In several areas, establishments are also overcrowded: “In our country, 40 schools have more than 20 classes. The doubling of classes in CP, CE1, large section in priority education cannot be done due to lack of space,” notes in turn Bechir Ben Hamouda, departmental secretary of FSU-SNUipp in Reunion. “We would need 1,000 more classes to teach,” adds Zaidou Ousseni, departmental secretary of FSU-SNUipp in Mayotte. According to the union, 70% of Drom schools are not equipped with computer equipment. Céline Hein also explains that in certain territories, “the majority of students do not speak French. However, there are not enough UP2A (pedagogical units for arriving allophone students) to help them follow the class”
Added to this are recruitment problems. In the school teacher competitions this year, 160 positions were not filled in Guyana. “The cost of living and difficult teaching conditions reinforce the lack of attractiveness of the profession,” notes Guislaine David, general secretary of FSU-SNUipp. Hence a massive use of contract workers. “The significant turnover makes it difficult to set up an educational project,” underlines Céine Hein.
“We are asking for very rapid action”
All these cumulative difficulties have repercussions on student results. And we measure them in particular when they have grown up. Thus, during the reading test at Defense and Citizenship Day in 2022, 55.7% of students in Mayotte had difficulty reading, 51.8% of young Guyanese, 30.4% of Guadeloupeans, 28.9% of Martinicans and 26.4% of Reunionese. While the national average was 11.2%.
“Faced with this observation, we demand very rapid action,” insists Guislaine David. “So far, education ministers often pass the buck to those from overseas, and vice versa,” she says. His union recently met with Gabriel Attal to put the subject back on the table. The latter went to Reunion in August. For her part, the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, announced in July 2.3 billion euros of investments over four years (2024-2027) for infrastructure in Overseas Territories, “primarily to finance water networks and sanitation, transport infrastructure and schools.
The construction of new schools, an imperative
But for observers on the ground, we must go much further. “We must classify all Drom schools in REP +”, estimates Guislaine David. This would make it possible to reduce class sizes and increase the presence of teachers. In her report on public services in the Antilles, the Defender of Rights recommended setting up a school transport service and creating more boarding schools.
Unicef also made its recommendations: “All children must be systematically enrolled in school, build new schools (particularly in Mayotte), offer canteens in all establishments, develop places in UP2A and strengthen the training of contract workers…”, lists Céine Hein. A colossal project.
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