According to an informal document consulted by France Bleu Auxerre and franceinfo, several national education staff working in Mayotte are asking to be evacuated, at least temporarily.
After the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte, several hundred teachers expressed their desire to be repatriated from the archipelago, according to an informal document consulted this Wednesday by France Bleu Auxerre and franceinfo.
This document, resulting from a “independent teacher-led initiative”aims “to quickly identify personnel who are not brought to safety in order to report urgent situations and the need for immediate assistance”. This census which “does not come from the rectorate” aims only “to try to alert and support the people concerned as quickly as possible”. The document also warns contributors that despite strong requests for “repatriations”it is not currently being considered immediately due to logistical constraints.
According to data used by France Bleu Auxerre, at least 500 teachers and national education staff based throughout the territory of Mayotte are requesting to be repatriated, at least temporarily. Most teachers indicate their situation on site in comments: “Damaged house”, “No more roof”, “No water”, “No electricity”, “No network”. Several wish to be evacuated to Reunion Island, others mention the city of Paris, but the vast majority of respondents do not specify a desired location. Those who wish to stay there require material resources.
Contacted by franceinfo, a teacher from a high school in Mamoudzou who wishes to remain anonymous says that the high school where she works “is filled with debris”that he is “completely unusable at the moment”. “The roof of the teachers’ room has been completely torn off, the tables are destroyed, the computers have taken on water, it’s unrecognizable”she explains. The professor talks about a “extremely traumatic event” which is not yet finished “because[elle] has no news from [sa] family”nor of his students: “We come across a few in the streets but we don’t yet know if we have students who have died, we imagine”. The teacher is one of those who asked to be repatriated temporarily to see her loved ones and family in order to be operational again in front of her students. She assures her, a return to school on January 13 is “impossible”.
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Rivomalala Rakotondravelo, departmental co-secretary of FSU Snuipp Mayotte, advocates “so that there are trained teachers” on the island, but understands the wishes of the teachers: “We can understand their position, their distress and their desire to be safe under a roof”. “It may be a temporary request”he adds. In any case, it is formal: “It is impossible to return to normal work in January”.
According to information from franceinfo, there are currently no plans to repatriate teachers who wish to do so, but it is possible to evacuate them temporarily in the event of a health or social emergency, within the limits of technical possibilities at the time. regard to current vital priorities.
An emergency line has been set up by the Mayotte rectorate to collect requests from National Education staff (0 800 710 170). As a reminder, for the 2024-2025 school year, 117,226 students are enrolled in schools, middle schools and high schools in Mayotte. The archipelago also has 7,434 national education agents who teach first and second grade students.
