Teachers in the French territory of Mayotte protest against the increase in confrontations between young people

Since the start of the school year in September, tensions have risen in the French overseas territory of Mayotte, where rival groups of young people have clashed near local secondary schools. On November 30 and December 2, Kahani High School teachers gathered to protest for better security, concerned that the situation could get even worse.

Tensions between youth groups have been particularly high around Kahani High School, which has nearly 2,000 students. A video filmed and broadcast live on November 15 shows clashes between youth and police officers near the school, which is located east of the main island of Mayotte. The youths threw projectiles and stones at the policemen, who responded with tear gas.

Meanwhile, high school students were filmed sheltering inside the school.

The violence continued on the school grounds, as shown in other videos taken by teachers and given to the JowharObserver team. In a statement delivered to our team, the teachers said the school was transformed into a “field of battle “, taken by young men armed with stones and iron rods who wore pieces of cloth to identify which side they were on.

‘What worries me … is how difficult it is to reason with students today’

We speak with one of the teachers who has come out to protest. Jérémie Saiseau is a professor of literature and a union representative.

The first violent scene since the start of the school year took place on September 24: there was a crowd gathered, so we had to bring in all the students and young people who were outside, including some from other schools. A colleague was stoned in her classroom. We don’t know if this is related to what happened outside. Students are usually very respectful in class, so this was a worrying sign for us.

More than 70 percent of people live below the poverty line, Saiseau said. The increase in cases of violence may be due to the despair felt by young people in Mayotte in the face of this social and economic crisis.

In 2018, there was a general strike on the island of Mayotte for three months, following a similar wave of violence in secondary schools. Our team went there to find out more:

Teachers and parents fear that the current violence will escalate further, threatening security in the territory.

Meanwhile, the Mayotte school board has announced that it will construct new school buildings and double its security staff to ensure the safety of teachers and students.