SCHOOL COMPLAINTS

It really seems as if there is not a single institution on the French side that can be praised at the moment.


Having said that, the collectivity is now responsible for everything, things that used to be shared by the commune, the department and the region, everything except the state's responsibilities, and those cause problems because the state seems to have reneged on certain things that they should be taking care of.


Today's subject is schools or educatio, whether primary, secondary or continuing education. We have no institute of higher education on the island as yet.


Most of the teachers who work here are not from the island. This means in amny cases that misunderstandings are rife, be they linguistic, cultural or whatever. Even the teachers who think they speak English speak it with such a heavy accent that our children do not understand .


Then there are the many foreign students, the numbers of whom increase each year. How many more years can we be expected to continue to build schools for outsiders at the expense of things that our own people need?


Women come here and make a career of having children so that they can collect family assistance. Many of these monetary allowances leave the island to the benefit of the native countries of those who collect them.


Then as said before, most of the teachers come from off-island. Many of them are here for the bonuses paid by the government to them for coming to live in the tropics. Many of them do not want to leave afterward. Tere is a freedom here that they do not enjoy in any other part of the French Republic.


French education, rather its tuision, is free, but everything necessary to benefit from it must be paid for, much of it again which is paid in the form of allowances. There is also a totally legal system of distance education, covering everything from kindergarten to university supervised by the National Education Ministry and which delivers legitimate certificates. Homeschooling is possible through this method too.


Having said all that, here on St. Martin we have countless hours and days of absence of teachers at all levels, whether for training or sick leave or whatever, and those who find it impossible to get back on time to start school on the set date after vacations.


In any case, not a month goes by without something concerning education causing a problem. How do we handle this problem?