Mayotte's students are returning to school amid cyclone devastation
Share:
Students in the French territory of Mayotte are preparing to return to school on Monday, just over six weeks after the worst cyclone to hit the islands off Africa in nearly a century laid waste to entire neighborhoods and villages and left widespread devastation in its wake.
Teachers called back into work this week found many of their classrooms were missing a roof, or several windows. It remains unclear how many students will have a table and chair to sit at when they head back to learning. At the Lycée de Petite Terre high school in the town of Pamandzi, locals and firefighters are busy working to consolidate the framework of some of the main buildings, covering the gaping holes in the roofs with clear tarpaulin.
Efforts to repair the archipelago's damaged schools have been underway since Cyclone Chido struck in December, in a race against the clock to make schools safe for students. After the passage of another tropical storm this month, the return of teachers had to be postponed, with some 120,000 students expected to come back gradually next week.
Assistant headmistress Peggy Guillerez noted that while the damage at Lycée de Petite Terre, which has some 2,000 students, was less severe than at some other schools, several classrooms remain unusable. “We had built an excellent student union building, but it was largely destroyed,” she said. “Overall, however, only 12 rooms are out of use, which is minimal considering the size of our school.”.
